Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich Sells 45,000 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.04, for a total value of $10,891,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 177,213 shares in the company, valued at $42,892,634.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Monday, August 7th, Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.17, for a total value of $9,682,650.00.
• On Monday, June 5th, Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.30, for a total value of $10,228,500.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $242.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $237.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.57. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.22 and a 12 month high of $258.88. The company has a market capitalization of $74.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 192.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 65.50% and a net margin of 6.38%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73,750.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 20,399,618 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,212,306,000 after purchasing an additional 20,371,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 69.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,709,428 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,455,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332,827 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $751,276,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.4% during the second quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,380,002 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,119,116,000 after purchasing an additional 482,857 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 27.2% during the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,343,304 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $854,248,000 after acquiring an additional 715,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; Panorama, a security management solution for the control of firewall appliances and software deployed on a customer's network, as well as their instances in public or private cloud environments, as a virtual or a physical appliance; and virtual system upgrades, which are available as extensions to the virtual system capacity that ships with physical appliances.