Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.5% on Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 0.5% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $336.07 and last traded at $339.35. Approximately 495,425 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 4,791,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.90.

Specifically, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total value of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares in the company, valued at $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 362,525 shares of company stock valued at $110,064,607. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. 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 Tuesday, May 21st. Macquarie lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $309.18 and its 200 day moving average is $307.63.

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

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.