Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns Sell Rating from Guggenheim

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reiterated by analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $130.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 30.16% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.7%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $186.14 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.33. The stock has a market cap of $123.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.87, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 118.9% in the 1st quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 14,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,489,000 after buying an additional 7,925 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68,422 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,675,000 after buying an additional 13,533 shares during the last quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,330 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 124,054 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $21,169,000 after buying an additional 584 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.