HSBC Downgrades Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to Reduce

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was downgraded by analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $291.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $304.00. HSBC’s price target indicates a potential downside of 24.09% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PANW. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $383.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $339.63.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in 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.