Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $393.97 and last traded at $396.66. Approximately 380,143 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 3,865,886 shares. The stock had previously closed at $398.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.28.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $357.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $335.01. The firm has a market cap of $128.41 billion, a PE ratio of 54.84, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.