DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Reduces Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main trimmed its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 56.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,627 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 290,397 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $40,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $1.63 on Wednesday, hitting $190.37. 2,779,169 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,723,412. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The company's 50-day moving average price is $176.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.90. The company has a market capitalization of $126.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.