Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $186.90 and last traded at $187.07. Approximately 861,958 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,716,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $187.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. 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.