Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 1.2% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $290.37 and last traded at $291.77. 1,189,200 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 5,264,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $295.32.

Specifically, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.01. The stock has a market cap of $95.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after acquiring an additional 86,995 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.