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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, November 3rd, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56.
• On Monday, October 6th, Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total value of $25,594,426.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $2.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $195.68. 4,158,653 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,216,786. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company has a market capitalization of $136.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.