Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $455.00 to $230.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $182.67 and last traded at $183.41. 588,266 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 7,440,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.20.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $119.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $191.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.57.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 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.