Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) traded down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $365.00 to $360.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $303.20 and last traded at $307.90. 1,802,871 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 5,149,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.66.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PANW. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.45.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock worth $80,670,132 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 59.0% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,026 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.8% during the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,643 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.0% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,357,000 after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.4% during the third quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 1,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $99.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.18. The company's fifty day moving average price is $289.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 37.81%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.