Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.8% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price was down 1.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $181.90 and last traded at $182.85. Approximately 673,558 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 7,459,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.46.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.54. The firm has a market cap of $119.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 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.