Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 3.4% After Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 3.4% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $167.26 and last traded at $169.46. 3,666,808 shares were traded during 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $191.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 154.6% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 12,268 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,449 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,886 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 144.3% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,957 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after buying an additional 5,290 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 79.6% during the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 178,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,426,000 after buying an additional 78,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norway Savings Bank increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 30,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,569,000 after buying an additional 14,905 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.