Nikesh Arora Sells 176,242 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Nikesh Arora also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 3rd, Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44.
• On Thursday, October 10th, Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $172.83 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.27. The stock has a market cap of $113.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $222.50 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.