Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.2% - What's Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 0.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $372.06 and last traded at $372.30. 223,387 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 4,061,753 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $121.07 billion, a PE ratio of 54.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $343.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $320.63.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 269,866 shares of company stock worth $88,620,447. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.