Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0% Following Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 0% during trading on Monday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $216.00 to $205.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $177.00 and last traded at $177.11. 5,495,344 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 4,521,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.17.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PANW. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.85.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.6 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current 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.