Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on the stock from $229.00 to $225.00. The stock had previously closed at $194.48, but opened at $184.76. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $181.03, with a volume of 5,127,454 shares traded.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.02.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 6.8%

The stock has a market cap of $119.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.95, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.32.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.

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