Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 2.5% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price dropped 2.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $152.79 and last traded at $153.22. Approximately 6,333,704 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 10,633,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $165.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,542,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,263,000 after buying an additional 1,282,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.