Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich Sells 120,000 Shares of Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $175.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.63 and a 200-day moving average of $178.30. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24. The stock has a market cap of $115.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.72.

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. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. 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.