Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.5%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) traded down 1.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $273.70 and last traded at $274.85. 955,120 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,650,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $279.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Redburn Atlantic increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $87.93 billion, a PE ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $303.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,017 shares of company stock valued at $52,068,877 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $751,276,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,728,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $771,643,000 after buying an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after buying an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.