Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells $20,722,402.92 in Stock

Key Points

• Lee Klarich, an executive vice president at Palo Alto Networks, sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock for approximately $20.7 million, marking a 36.88% decrease in his ownership.
• Palo Alto Networks' stock price fell by 1.1%, reaching $169.09, with a trading volume significantly above its average, reflecting investors’ reactions to recent sales and broader market trends.
• Despite recent fluctuations, Palo Alto Networks reported a 15.3% year-over-year revenue increase in its last quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $0.80, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total value of $20,722,402.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares in the company, valued at $35,468,674.44. This trade represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, July 7th, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total transaction of $24,258,665.64.
• 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 transaction of $23,567,838.36.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,616,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,959,338. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39. The company 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.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.