Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells $24,258,665.64 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total value of $24,258,665.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 235,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,298,914.52. This represents a 33.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, June 4th, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36.
• On Monday, May 5th, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.6%

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $9.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $196.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,468,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,377,295. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $194.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Capital began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

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.