Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CAO Sells $126,854.00 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $186.98 and its 200 day moving average is $180.23. The firm has a market cap of $122.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,961 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $22,545,000 after acquiring an additional 4,392 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 44.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,592 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Herbst Group LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the third quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 9,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,313,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $444,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,561 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.