Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 3.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 3.1% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $167.19 and last traded at $167.98. Approximately 1,628,469 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 5,789,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.04.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.5 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $190.68 and a 200-day moving average of $178.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in 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 worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.