Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $201.88, but opened at $192.00. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $190.68, with a volume of 3,880,677 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.87.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $126.21 billion, a PE ratio of 50.17, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $186.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.42.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.