Insider Selling: Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells $65,081,520.00 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Nir Zuk sold 168,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.39, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,821,758 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Nir Zuk also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 1st, Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $384.37 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $368.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $341.82. The company has a market cap of $126.11 billion, a PE ratio of 50.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.09 and a 52-week high of $408.53.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are scheduled to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PANW. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

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.