Rep. Josh Gottheimer Sells Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Posted by Doug Wharley on Feb 13th, 2025

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) recently sold shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW). In a filing disclosed on February 10th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Palo Alto Networks stock on January 16th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY – SELECT UMA ACCOUNT # 1” account.

Representative Josh Gottheimer also recently made the following trade(s):

Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on 1/31/2025.
Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) on 1/31/2025.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 1/31/2025.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 1/31/2025.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) on 1/31/2025.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) on 1/31/2025.
Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) on 1/31/2025.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) on 1/31/2025.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 1/30/2025.
Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) on 1/30/2025.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $196.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $129.09 billion, a PE ratio of 51.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.28. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.77.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Palo Alto Networks

About Representative Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2017. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Gottheimer is also running for election for Governor of New Jersey. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 10, 2025.

Gottheimer attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. He became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford and attended Harvard Law School. Gottheimer worked as a speech writer under former President Bill Clinton (D), assisting with two State of the Union addresses, among other projects. Before running for Congress, he worked for Microsoft as a general manager for corporate strategy.

About Palo Alto Networks

(Get Free Report)

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.