Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 216,775 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 20,991 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $36,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after acquiring an additional 23,586 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,807,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,610 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,593 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.07 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $204.64. The company had a trading volume of 4,347,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,391,653. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The business's 50 day moving average price is $190.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.23. The firm has a market cap of $136.45 billion, a PE ratio of 116.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.