Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Downgraded to Reduce Rating by HSBC

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was downgraded by investment analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $291.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $304.00. HSBC’s price objective points to a potential downside of 26.78% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 target price (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $397.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $129.40 billion, a PE ratio of 54.82, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $260.09 and a one year high of $408.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $363.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.82.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are set to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.