Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 2.1% on Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 2.1% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $285.59 and last traded at $299.13. 1,363,731 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 4,421,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $305.60.

Specifically, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 307,315 shares of company stock worth $100,940,790 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.59.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.6 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $321.19 and its 200 day moving average is $311.66. The company has a market capitalization of $97.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $515,147,000 after purchasing an additional 84,151 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.