Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora Sells 235,492 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Nikesh Arora also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 6th, Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68.
• On Thursday, October 10th, Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $3.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $179.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,104,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,307,088. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $191.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.03. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.04 and a 12 month high of $207.24. The stock has a market cap of $117.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after buying an additional 114,742 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.72.

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.