Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $205.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $167.84 and last traded at $169.12. 768,204 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,866,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.76.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a PE ratio of 94.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.