Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $290.37 and last traded at $291.77. 1,189,200 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 5,264,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $295.32.

Specifically, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,917 shares of company stock worth $44,335,843 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Northland Securities cut Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Piper Sandler cut Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.01. The company has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 55.6% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,555 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,537,000 after buying an additional 2,343 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 40.5% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,080 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 2,024 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 942 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.