Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.4% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 3.4% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $167.26 and last traded at $169.46. 3,666,808 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 5,139,548 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.51.

Specifically, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $113.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 397.5% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,722 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 9,366 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5,450.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 222 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 33.8% in the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $159,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 574,529 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $194,771,000 after acquiring an additional 31,782 shares in the last quarter. 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.