Hsbc Global Res Downgrades Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to Moderate Sell

Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a hold rating to a moderate sell rating in a report released on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $383.36 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $260.09 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $364.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $339.89. The company has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks shares are going to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd 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 raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.