Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 28.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,907 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 17,227 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,452,332. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,594,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,390,538. The stock has a market cap of $126.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $195.05 and its 200 day moving average is $185.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on PANW shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.