Nikesh Arora Sells 66,668 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total value of $22,436,448.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,228 shares in the company, valued at $233,635,491.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $341.20 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.17 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $309.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.63. The firm has a market capitalization 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 posted its 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. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Argus increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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 price target of $326.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $3,394,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 203.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,917,000 after purchasing an additional 39,817 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,338 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,787 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Finally, Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 216.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 38,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,909,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.