Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0.4% during trading on Tuesday 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 $182.67 and last traded at $183.41. Approximately 588,266 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 7,440,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.20.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on PANW. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.46.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % 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 Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

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, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect 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.