AMI Asset Management Corp Sells 7,176 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

AMI Asset Management Corp cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 213,236 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,176 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 2.1% of AMI Asset Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $36,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,984 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.3% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,578 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.2% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 437,231 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $74,609,000 after buying an additional 162,655 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the first quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 16,456 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,808,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of PANW traded down $1.96 on Thursday, hitting $202.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,260,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,426,731. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $189.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.33. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

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.