Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora Sells 176,242 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, January 3rd, Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44.
• On Thursday, October 10th, Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $175.51 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.30. The company has a market cap of $115.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third 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. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.