Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,007 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 3,652 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PANW. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ PANW traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.24. The company had a trading volume of 8,285,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,444,625. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $187.43 and a 200 day moving average of $185.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97.

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