Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 2.9% – Time to Sell?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report)’s share price was down 2.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $361.00 and last traded at $365.01. Approximately 755,797 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 3,999,166 shares. The stock had previously closed at $376.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Citigroup increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.82.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $119.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.5% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,520 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

(Get Free Report)

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.

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