Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares dropped 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $187.63 and last traded at $188.08. Approximately 435,352 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 7,498,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $123.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.64.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during 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%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.