Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) traded down 0.3% on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $215.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $166.83 and last traded at $170.10. 1,006,784 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,889,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.64.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.27.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, 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 sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Zega Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the third quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.01 and a 200 day moving average of $185.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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