Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 20.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,816 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 5,879 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.0% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.93 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $198.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,440,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,530,961. The business's 50 day moving average is $179.38 and its 200-day moving average is $185.03. The company has a market cap of $132.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.55, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 668,962 shares of company stock worth $116,269,690 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.