Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price dropped 1.2% during trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $365.00 to $360.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $303.20 and last traded at $307.90. Approximately 1,802,871 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 5,149,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.66.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.20.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 280,193 shares of company stock worth $80,670,132 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $100.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $288.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 37.81% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.