Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.6% After Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price dropped 0.6% during mid-day trading on Monday after Guggenheim downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a sell rating. Guggenheim now has a $130.00 price target on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $176.65 and last traded at $182.11. Approximately 2,168,408 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 3,570,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.25.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $222.50 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Three research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $119.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $191.81 and its 200-day moving average is $178.03.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.