Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 5.4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks' stock price fell by 5.4%, closing at $183.36, following significant trading volume that was 234% higher than average.
• Several analysts revised their price targets for the stock, with Barclays decreasing their target from $213.00 to $210.00 and TD Securities maintaining a target of $230.00 with a "buy" rating.
• Insiders sold over 569,000 shares of the company's stock recently, reflecting a trend of insider transactions amid fluctuating share values.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 5.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $176.56 and last traded at $183.36. Approximately 18,262,784 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 234% from the average daily volume of 5,469,733 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.42.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $121.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total transaction of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $633,068,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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.

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