Insider Selling: Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells 168,000 Shares of Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Nir Zuk sold 168,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.39, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,821,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Nir Zuk also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 1st, Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $384.37 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.09 and a 52 week high of $408.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.05, a PEG ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $367.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.52.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are going to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.