Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 2.5% Following Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares fell 2.5% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $167.10 and last traded at $168.65. 1,149,405 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,890,258 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.02.

Specifically, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.79. The company has a market capitalization of $111.46 billion, a PE ratio of 94.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.