Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 3.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $281.62 and last traded at $284.45. Approximately 971,636 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,439,369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $293.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18,500.0% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 186 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,230 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,779 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,469 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,100 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.