Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $185.71 and last traded at $185.88. Approximately 6,216,499 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 6,177,983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $204.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.58. The firm has a market cap of $129.56 billion, a PE ratio of 117.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. St. Clair Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.