Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $143.50 and last traded at $147.02. 11,368,503 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 10,568,912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $165.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.78. The firm has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.