Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 0.6% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $144.15 and last traded at $152.66. 3,741,131 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 5,863,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $100.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.86 and a 200 day moving average of $185.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 818,544 shares of company stock valued at $147,132,028. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First County Bank CT raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 74.9% in the 1st quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 9,632 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 4,125 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $411,292,000 after buying an additional 2,397,539 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 45.5% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,353 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 13,986 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,387,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.1% in the first quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 16,203 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.