Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 5.2% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded down 5.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $163.33 and last traded at $166.24. 9,898,587 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 51% from the average session volume of 6,574,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Mizuho set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 12th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $115.87 billion, a PE ratio of 105.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.46.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 84,651 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $15,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Grange Capital LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Grange Capital LLC now owns 12,568 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 21,052 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,878,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 92,978 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,127,000 after buying an additional 2,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 39,787 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,329,000 after buying an additional 4,305 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.