Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.9% – Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was down 0.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $180.30 and last traded at $182.62. Approximately 889,395 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 6,065,683 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $186.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.76 billion, a PE ratio of 101.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.