Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.9%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price fell 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $338.51 and last traded at $340.93. 596,899 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,196,691 shares. The stock had previously closed at $344.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $111.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.55, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $336.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after buying an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second 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. 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.