Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 3.1% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) fell 3.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $167.19 and last traded at $167.98. 1,628,469 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 5,789,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.2 %

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $190.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.54. The firm has a market cap of $110.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.6% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,324 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 74.6% in the 4th quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 3,248 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,343 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 5,231 shares during the last quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $353,000. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $655,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.