Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 0.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $180.86 and last traded at $181.80. 888,780 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 7,451,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. BNP Paribas started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.46.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $117.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.57.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $174,124,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $94,875,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.