IFM Investors Pty Ltd Sells 56,667 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 45.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,803 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 56,667 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% 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, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were 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 owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 547,948 shares of company stock valued at $103,462,223. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Roth Capital began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $201.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,479,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,395,900. The business's fifty day moving average is $194.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.49. The company has a market cap of $134.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.10, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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