Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by First National Trust Co

Key Points

• First National Trust Co reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5%, now owning 51,639 shares valued at approximately $8.81 million.
• A variety of institutional investors are increasing their positions in Palo Alto Networks, with 79.82% of the stock currently owned by these entities.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a quarterly earnings beat with $0.80 EPS, surpassing estimates of $0.77, and achieved revenues of $2.29 billion.

First National Trust Co decreased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,639 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,314 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th 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. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,243,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,356,888.56. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,452,332. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $172.88. The stock had a trading volume of 16,231,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,904,851. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.28 billion, a PE ratio of 98.79, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $210.39.

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

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.