Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich Sells 120,774 Shares

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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

• On Monday, February 3rd, Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 13.4 %

Shares of PANW traded up $20.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.02. 10,504,845 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,929,446. The firm has a market cap of $114.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.83 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.91.

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

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $349,000. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 18,004 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,176 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 105,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $18,010,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29.6% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 34,974 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,968,000 after buying an additional 7,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

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.