Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0.5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $384.88 and last traded at $384.98. Approximately 420,196 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 3,883,551 shares. The stock had previously closed at $387.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $127.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $353.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.