Nikesh Arora Acquires 68,085 Shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 6.0%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $147.02 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.23, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. New Street Research cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 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 (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.