Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 3.4% – Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was down 3.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $185.43 and last traded at $186.32. Approximately 1,601,127 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 6,006,536 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $188.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.55. The stock has a market cap of $122.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.55, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during 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.