Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 2.1% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares fell 2.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $178.93 and last traded at $179.83. 1,574,732 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 6,147,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $122.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $186.55 and its 200-day moving average is $184.63.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 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.