Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Sells $16,541,000.00 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $2.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $167.69. 4,768,742 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,872,875. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.60 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $180.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.73. The stock has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.