Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.5% After Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $370.70 and last traded at $371.90. 346,406 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 4,049,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.91.

Specifically, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. BTIG Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $373.28.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $121.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $346.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.63.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 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.