Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Sells $89,532,411.35 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68.
• On Friday, January 3rd, Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $193.94 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24. The stock has a market cap of $127.26 billion, a PE ratio of 50.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $186.88 and its 200-day moving average is $180.28.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.