Nir Zuk, co-founder and chief technology officer of Palo Alto Networks (PANW), recently sold a significant portion of his shares in the company, worth $65.1 million. PANW is a cybersecurity company that offers advanced firewall and cloud security solutions to protect organizations from cyber threats.
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According to the recent SEC filing, Zuk divested 168,000 shares of PANW on November 22 and November 25, at prices ranging from $383.45 to $395.91. Prior to the sale, he exercised an option to purchase 1,509,057 shares at a significantly lower price of $64.50 per share. Following these latest transactions, Zuk still owns Palo Alto Networks’ shares worth roughly $810.11 million.
Insider Sale Follows PANW’s Mixed Fiscal Q1 Results
The sale by Palo Alto Networks’ key executive occurred just a week after the company released mixed results for the first quarter, with sales falling short of analysts’ expectations but earnings exceeding them.
Nevertheless, PANW raised its Fiscal 2025 guidance. The company now expects revenues between $9.12 billion and $9.17 billion, up from the previous range of $9.10 billion to $9.15 billion. Also, it expects adjusted EPS in the range of $6.26 to $6.39, up from the prior guidance of $6.18-$6.31.
Bearish Insider Sentiment for PANW Stock
It is worth highlighting that Zuk is not the only one who reduced his stake in the company. Based on other informative insider transactions from the last three months, corporate insiders have sold $68.5 million worth of PANW stock. Overall, TipRanks’ Insider Trading Activity Tool shows that insider confidence in the stock is currently Negative.
Investors may benefit from keeping an eye on transactions made by key insiders, as these transactions typically reflect their confidence in the company’s prospects. Interestingly, TipRanks offers daily insider transactions as well as a list of top corporate insiders. It also provides a list of hot stocks that boast either a Very Positive or Positive insider confidence signal.
Is PANW Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, PANW stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 31 Buys, four Holds, and one Sell assigned in the last three months. At $424.15, the average Palo Alto Networks price target implies a 7% upside potential. Shares of the company have gained 34.43% year-to-date.
