Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Downgraded by Hsbc Global Res to “Moderate Sell”

Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a hold rating to a moderate sell rating in a report released on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $386.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $365.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.53. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $260.09 and a 1-year high of $408.53. The firm has a market cap of $125.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is set to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 244,252 shares of company stock valued at $85,556,737. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.