Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Palo Alto Networks Call Options (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 36,704 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the average volume of 28,141 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $297,450,000 after acquiring an additional 848,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,562,722 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $284,353,000 after purchasing an additional 796,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $185.42 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.55. The firm has a market cap of $121.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.29, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Loop Capital cut their price objective 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. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $208.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.85.

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.