Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 1.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $332.13 and last traded at $333.09. 535,599 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 4,707,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Daiwa America raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $313.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $308.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 302,525 shares of company stock valued at $93,982,207. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.