Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $187.63 and last traded at $188.08. 435,352 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 7,498,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.