Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Nir Zuk Sells 36,000 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $296.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $285.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.09 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $44,497,000 after buying an additional 113,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

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.