Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 4% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $177.73 and last traded at $177.63. 1,561,564 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 5,710,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $117.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $187.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 97,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,714,000 after buying an additional 49,391 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.