Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CAO Josh D. Paul Sells 700 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $183.40 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.04 and a 1-year high of $207.24. The company has a market capitalization of $120.35 billion, a PE ratio of 47.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.06.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.