Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Downgraded by Guggenheim to Sell

Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $130.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PANW. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.72.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $179.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $117.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $130.04 and a twelve month high of $207.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $191.78 and its 200 day moving average is $178.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 910,906 shares of company stock worth $170,005,355 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.