Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $290.37 and last traded at $291.77. Approximately 1,189,200 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,264,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $295.32.

Specifically, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Loop Capital downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Capital One Financial downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $95.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.28, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $285.98 and a 200 day moving average of $293.25.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 55.6% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,555 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,537,000 after buying an additional 2,343 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 942 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 5,727 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 373 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.