Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 4.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 4.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $380.75 and last traded at $381.08. 1,419,727 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 3,847,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $304.00 to $291.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $338.82. The company has a market cap of $122.51 billion, a PE ratio of 54.82, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.