Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $455.00 to $230.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $182.67 and last traded at $183.41. 588,266 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 7,440,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.20.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $191.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

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

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.