Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 0.3% on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $215.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $166.83 and last traded at $170.10. 1,006,784 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,889,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.64.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on PANW. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $187.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.46. The company has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.