Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 0.1% during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $230.00 to $205.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $170.47 and last traded at $173.30. 771,512 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,873,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.55.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna increased their target price 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, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.73. The firm has a market cap of $112.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities 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.