Josh D. Paul Sells 200 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $341.20 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $201.17 and a one year high of $380.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $309.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.63. The firm has a market cap of $110.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 112,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $33,038,000 after buying an additional 26,767 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,726 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,291,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Daiwa America raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

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.