Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 2.5% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $152.79 and last traded at $153.22. Approximately 6,333,704 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 10,633,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.5%

The company has a market cap of $125.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the period. Employees Provident Fund Board bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $281,542,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $502,263,000 after buying an additional 1,282,738 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.