Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 4.2% – Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded down 4.2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $380.75 and last traded at $381.08. 1,419,727 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 3,847,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 5.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $122.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $363.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $338.82.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are going to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 32,626 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its stake in 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. 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.