Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 6,140 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 49.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,230 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 6,140 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 215.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,421 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 40,385 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,348,000 after purchasing an additional 17,534 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total value of $24,258,665.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,298,914.52. This trade represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.4%

NASDAQ PANW traded down $4.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $187.39. 7,403,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,412,170. The company has a market capitalization of $124.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, research 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.