Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $282.80 and last traded at $284.01. 574,981 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 6,071,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $285.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Raymond James cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Loop Capital cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Northland Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $320.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,327,194.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,153 shares of company stock valued at $44,107,332. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $751,276,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after purchasing an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,376,601 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $673,731,000 after buying an additional 92,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $924,905,000 after acquiring an additional 30,013 shares in the last quarter. 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.