Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 1.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 1.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $167.26 and last traded at $172.83. Approximately 11,010,937 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 65% from the average daily volume of 6,685,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $113.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $191.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.27.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 12,268 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after buying an additional 7,449 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,886 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 144.3% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,957 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 79.6% during the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 178,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,426,000 after acquiring an additional 78,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norway Savings Bank increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 30,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,569,000 after purchasing an additional 14,905 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.