Lee Klarich Sells 120,000 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $172.83 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $207.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $191.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 12,268 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,449 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,886 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 144.3% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,957 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after buying an additional 5,290 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 79.6% during the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 178,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,426,000 after buying an additional 78,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norway Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 30,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,569,000 after buying an additional 14,905 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

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.