Insider Selling: Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells 100,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of stock for a total of approximately $17.28 million, reducing his ownership by 3.08% to about 3.14 million shares valued at around $543 million.
• On August 1st, the stock price was $172.80, with a recent decline bringing the price to $169.09 per share; the company's market cap stands at $112.75 billion.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.80 EPS, exceeding estimates, with 15.3% year-over-year revenue growth of $2.29 billion, indicating strong financial performance.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Nir Zuk also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 1st, Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00.
• On Monday, June 2nd, Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total value of $19,336,000.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $1.91 on Tuesday, reaching $169.09. 8,616,347 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,959,338. The firm has a market cap of $112.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $195.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

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.

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