Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price dropped 1.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $179.70 and last traded at $180.18. Approximately 5,768,750 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 6,275,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $125.59 billion, a PE ratio of 114.04, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $188.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after acquiring an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.