Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Dipak Golechha Sells 5,000 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.3%

PANW stock opened at $204.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $189.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.33. The company has a market cap of $136.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.74, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.