Insider Selling: Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells $18,191,542.15 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Lee Klarich also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 6th, Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.79, a PEG ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.85.

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.