Josh D. Paul Sells 200 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of PANW opened at $341.20 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $310.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.17 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Argus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

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.