Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 3.5% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded down 3.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $173.11 and last traded at $174.61. 1,355,519 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 5,925,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $186.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.81. The company has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. IronOak Wealth LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $2,562,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $2,173,000. Finally, Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 155.9% in the fourth quarter. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.