Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Has $1.02 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks by 45.7%, leaving the fund with 5,946 shares valued at approximately $1.02 million.
• Movers in institutional ownership include Vanguard Group Inc., which increased its stake by 2.5% to own over 62 million shares, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which boosted its holdings by 41.9% in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Palo Alto Networks have been mixed, with 27 analysts issuing a buy rating, while the stock's consensus price target is set at $217.07.

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 45.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,946 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.7% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8%

PANW stock traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $176.86. The stock had a trading volume of 11,932,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,553,770. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.63. The firm has a market cap of $117.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.06, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.52.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.