Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 4.4% Following Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 4.4% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $154.71 and last traded at $157.96. Approximately 2,724,705 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 5,868,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.17.

Specifically, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.27.

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Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $184.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.82 billion, a PE ratio of 87.14, 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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.