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

Key Points

• DA Davidson has lowered its price target for Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating on the stock.
• Palo Alto Networks saw its shares drop by $9.44 during trading, closing at $173.59 amidst a trading volume significantly higher than average.
• Insider activity includes significant share sales by executives, with over 569,248 shares sold in the last quarter, indicating potential shifts in confidence among leadership.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at DA Davidson from $225.00 to $215.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the network technology company's stock. DA Davidson's price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.51% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $174.08. 6,231,829 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,832,306. The stock's fifty day moving average is $196.32 and its 200 day moving average is $187.19. The firm has a market cap of $116.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $210.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total transaction of $24,258,665.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at $47,298,914.52. This represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.