Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.5% - Here's Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 1.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $167.26 and last traded at $172.83. Approximately 11,010,937 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 65% from the average daily volume of 6,685,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. HSBC downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, OTR Global reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $113.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.35 and a 200 day moving average of $178.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 12,268 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,232,000 after buying an additional 7,449 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,886 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 144.3% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,957 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 79.6% during the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 178,206 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $32,426,000 after purchasing an additional 78,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norway Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 30,606 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,569,000 after purchasing an additional 14,905 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is 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.