Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora Buys 68,085 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 6.0%

PANW opened at $147.02 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a PE ratio of 81.23, a PEG ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $164.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.36.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.