Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares dropped 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $371.31 and last traded at $376.50. Approximately 361,760 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 4,009,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $378.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $115.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $350.84 and a 200 day moving average of $325.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.