Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Sells $31,730,609.68 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Nikesh Arora also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 3rd, Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44.
• On Thursday, October 10th, Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $172.83 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.04 and a 1-year high of $207.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PANW. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 48,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,457,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.2% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,938 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $932,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $225,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 27.3% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,845 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.