Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich Sells 99,707 Shares of Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Lee Klarich also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 6th, Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $183.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.35 billion, a PE ratio of 47.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $187.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.7% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 3,054 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 1,532 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 6,471 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.9% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 32,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after acquiring an additional 16,307 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 105.4% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,711 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 3,443 shares during the period. Finally, JFG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,157,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.85.

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.