Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $156.36, but opened at $147.55. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $146.9670, with a volume of 3,575,259 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 6.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.41 and a 200-day moving average of $187.36.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,587,100,000 after buying an additional 594,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after acquiring an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.