Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0.3% on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $215.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $166.83 and last traded at $170.10. Approximately 1,006,784 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 5,889,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.64.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth 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 period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $186.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.38. The stock has a market cap of $114.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 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.