Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 4.1% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares fell 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $171.25 and last traded at $176.20. 12,886,175 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 101% from the average session volume of 6,424,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, December 19th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $187.22 and its 200-day moving average is $194.58. The company has a market capitalization of $123.35 billion, a PE ratio of 112.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.