Hsbc Global Res Downgrades Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to Moderate Sell

Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a hold rating to a moderate sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PANW. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $386.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $125.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $365.13 and its 200-day moving average is $340.53. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $260.09 and a one year high of $408.53.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are scheduled to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 244,252 shares of company stock valued at $85,556,737. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.4% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 9,967 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $1,765,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 580,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $164,910,000 after acquiring an additional 168,203 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $2,342,000. Finally, BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $920,000. 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.