Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 3.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares traded down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $425.00 to $213.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $193.25 and last traded at $193.49. 649,149 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 7,526,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.24.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PANW. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. OTR Global reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.03.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 24,982 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,539,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. FFG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 17,359 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,933,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $9,390,000. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Capasso Planning Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $61.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for 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%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 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.