Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 4.2% - Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares traded down 4.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $380.75 and last traded at $381.08. 1,419,727 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 3,847,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $364.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.63. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are going to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.