Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells $22,858,894.98 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Lee Klarich also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 7th, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $186.93 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $176.07 and its 200-day moving average is $184.72. The company has a market capitalization of $123.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.06.

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.