Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.5% - Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares fell 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $370.70 and last traded at $371.90. 346,406 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 4,049,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company's 50 day moving average is $345.25 and its 200 day moving average is $321.26. The firm has a market cap of $121.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in 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 purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $339,183,000 after acquiring an additional 73,922 shares in the last quarter. 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.