Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich Sells 120,768 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Lee Klarich also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 3rd, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $188.88. 4,277,980 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,156,314. The company has a market capitalization of $131.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $193.84 and its 200-day moving average is $196.05. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.99.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.