Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 3.7% on Tuesday 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 $300.00 and last traded at $311.90. Approximately 6,559,555 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 5,108,239 shares. The stock had previously closed at $323.77.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Northland Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.45.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock valued at $80,670,132 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.07. The company has a market capitalization of $99.70 billion, a PE ratio of 44.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 37.81% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal 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.