Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $193.69 and last traded at $195.35. 4,344,560 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 6,202,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $134.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $205.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. St. Clair Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.