Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 3.5% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 3.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $173.11 and last traded at $174.61. 1,355,519 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 5,925,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.9 %

The company has a market cap of $118.47 billion, a PE ratio of 100.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $185.78 and a 200-day moving average of $184.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tradewinds LLC. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,989 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.