Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by M.D. Sass LLC

Key Points

• M.D. Sass LLC reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks by 13.5%, selling 4,332 shares during the first quarter, now owning 27,712 shares valued at approximately $4.729 million.
• In the fourth quarter, other institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Palo Alto Networks, with Brighton Jones LLC lifting its stake by 147.7% to own 6,761 shares valued at around $1.23 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a quarterly revenue of $2.29 billion, exceeding estimates and marking a 15.3% year-over-year increase in earnings per share.

M.D. Sass LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,712 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,332 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.4% of M.D. Sass LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. M.D. Sass LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares in the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 131.0% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 19,703 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,585,000 after buying an additional 11,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,553,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 448,474 shares of company stock valued at $88,420,934 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $171.00. The stock had a trading volume of 11,170,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,542,559. The company has a market cap of $114.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $210.39. The business's 50 day moving average price is $196.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.36.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.