Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 1.4%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price fell 1.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $332.85 and last traded at $333.31. 528,206 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 4,227,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Daiwa America raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.9 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.63. The company has a market cap of $107.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.