Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 2,077 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 12.3% during the first quarter, now holding 14,837 shares worth approximately $2.53 million.
• Palo Alto Networks' stock price has seen a decline of 5.2%, currently priced at $173.60, with a 12-month low of $142.01 and a high of $210.39.
• Analysts' ratings for Palo Alto Networks show a predominantly positive outlook, with two sell ratings, fourteen hold ratings, and twenty-six buy ratings, contributing to an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lessened its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,837 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,077 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,082,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $172.88. 16,231,498 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,730,412. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $210.39. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $196.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.