Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CAO Sells $64,682.00 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW traded down $10.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $305.60. 3,521,319 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,442,398. The stock has a market cap of $98.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $322.06 and a 200-day moving average of $312.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.17 and a 52 week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Effects LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $334,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,916 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,689 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,886 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029 shares during the period. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,902 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $325.59.

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.

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