Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 4.4% After Insider Selling

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

Specifically, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This 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 through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Stephens assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.24. The firm has a market cap of $104.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results 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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 16,203 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.9% in the first quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 109.1% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,355 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $5,117,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 1,010 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.