Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.7%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $275.24 and last traded at $275.89. 1,059,444 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 5,525,517 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $295.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.20. The company has a market capitalization of $91.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.