Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.1% Following Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 0.1% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $180.93 and last traded at $182.69. 1,421,928 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 5,920,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.79.

Specifically, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $122.95 billion, a PE ratio of 48.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $186.98 and its 200 day moving average is $180.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,961 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,545,000 after purchasing an additional 4,392 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.