Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.6% - What's Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares fell 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $185.01 and last traded at $188.27. 2,044,588 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 7,519,694 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $122.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The business's fifty day moving average price is $191.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.58.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd 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 position in 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd 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. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 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.