Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Director John Key Sells 7,500 Shares

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks director John Key sold 7,500 shares on June 12 at an average price of $279.24, generating about $2.09 million. After the sale, he still held 12,500 shares, a 37.5% reduction in his position.
• The stock has been strong recently, trading near $279.62 and close to its 12-month high of $302.95. Its price is also well above both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Recent earnings topped expectations, with Palo Alto Networks reporting $0.85 EPS on $3 billion in revenue, both above analyst estimates. The company also raised guidance, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) Director John Key sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $279.62. 6,770,429 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,577,431. The company has a market cap of $227.89 billion, a PE ratio of 229.20, a PEG ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $214.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.58. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $302.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. South Plains Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 4,823 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,310 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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