Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was down 1.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $376.52 and last traded at $378.21. Approximately 545,901 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 3,892,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $385.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Northland Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $127.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $355.13 and its 200-day moving average is $332.47.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 65.6% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.2% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.8% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,440 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.