Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 4.4% – Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares dropped 4.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $169.60 and last traded at $173.21. Approximately 6,949,680 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 9,983,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Argus raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 4.4%

The stock has a market cap of $141.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.60.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after acquiring an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.