Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $186.65 and last traded at $188.19. Approximately 447,106 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 7,522,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $191.92 and a 200-day moving average of $176.28. The firm has a market cap of $124.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,231,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.