Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Lowered to Sector Weight Rating by KeyCorp

Key Points

• KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment regarding the stock's potential.
• Palo Alto Networks shares recently opened at $183.03 and have a market cap of $122.04 billion, with an average target price set at $209.42.
• Insider trading activity included significant sales, with Director Aparna Bawa selling 526 shares valued at $99,940, contributing to a larger trend of insiders selling over 569,248 shares in the last quarter.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was downgraded by KeyCorp from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $2.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $170.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,535,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,804,436. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $210.39. The firm has a market cap of $113.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.97. The business's fifty day moving average price is $196.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $810,047,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $633,068,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.