Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 3.9% during trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $425.00 to $213.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $193.25 and last traded at $193.49. 649,149 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 7,526,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.24.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,231,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

The company has a market cap of $63.48 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $191.65 and its 200-day moving average is $175.11.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.