Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Lowered by Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC

Key Points

• Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 55.6%, selling 2,131 shares and ending with 1,701 shares valued at $290,000.
• Several hedge funds have increased their positions in Palo Alto Networks, with Brighton Jones LLC boosting its holdings by 147.7% and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG by 115.6% in the last quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Palo Alto Networks, with 26 analysts recommending a buy, while the consensus target price is approximately $209.61.

Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 55.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,701 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,131 shares during the quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,324,387,000 after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.8%

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $4.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $168.10. 14,530,774 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,529,738. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.03. The company has a market cap of $112.09 billion, a PE ratio of 96.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $210.39.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lowered Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.

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.