KeyCorp Has Lowered Expectations for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by KeyCorp from $240.00 to $205.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the network technology company's stock. KeyCorp's target price suggests a potential upside of 28.91% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of PANW stock traded down $8.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $159.02. 1,897,996 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,842,808. The stock has a market cap of $105.29 billion, a PE ratio of 89.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $137.60 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $180.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.