CENTRAL TRUST Co Reduces Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,459 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,518 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Northland Securities cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $2.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $199.78. The stock had a trading volume of 3,321,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,472,441. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a PE ratio of 114.16, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.