Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.5% Following Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $336.07 and last traded at $339.35. 495,425 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,791,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.90.

Specifically, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 362,525 shares of company stock valued at $110,064,607 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Twelve 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.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $309.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.63. The company has a market cap of $110.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.