Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was down 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $180.86 and last traded at $181.80. Approximately 888,780 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 7,451,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.46.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.76. The firm has a market cap of $120.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.