Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $191.82 and last traded at $193.88. Approximately 1,009,639 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,725,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $208.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,046,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $180,936,000 after purchasing an additional 314,302 shares during the period. IPG Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,708 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,452 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,087,682 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $197,915,000 after buying an additional 535,124 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 19,766 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,597,000 after acquiring an additional 9,913 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.