Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $455.00 to $230.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $181.26 and last traded at $181.96. Approximately 3,268,675 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 7,451,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.20.

Several other analysts have also commented on PANW. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $119.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $191.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.57.

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