Insider Selling: Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Sells 66,668 Shares of Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total transaction of $22,436,448.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,228 shares in the company, valued at $233,635,491.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.76 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $341.20. 1,022,400 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,774,639. The business’s 50 day moving average is $309.18 and its 200 day moving average is $307.63. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.17 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.57, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Argus raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $3,394,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 203.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,917,000 after purchasing an additional 39,817 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,338 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 40.1% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,787 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 216.7% during the third quarter. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 38,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,909,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.