GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Sells 19,991 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 29.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,601 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 19,991 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.1% of GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Citigroup boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Northland Securities lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $3.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $197.67. The stock had a trading volume of 4,157,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,491,258. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $131.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.36, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $182.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.09.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.