Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells $23,070,311.04 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, December 3rd, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $190.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.31 and a 200 day moving average of $195.86. The company has a market cap of $133.08 billion, a PE ratio of 120.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $457,279,000 after acquiring an additional 163,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.