Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Guggenheim

Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. Guggenheim currently has $130.00 price target on the network technology company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.72.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded down $3.75 on Monday, hitting $179.50. 7,104,380 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,307,088. The company has a market capitalization of $117.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day moving average is $191.81 and its 200 day moving average is $178.03. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $130.04 and a 1-year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 910,906 shares of company stock worth $170,005,355. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during 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.