Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 33.2%, selling 18,263 shares, and now holds 36,693 shares valued at approximately $6.26 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.80 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.77, with revenue reaching $2.29 billion, a 15.3% increase year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks' shares, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 33.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,693 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 18,263 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th 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 period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $172.89. The company had a trading volume of 9,837,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,189,694. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $195.36 and its 200-day moving average is $187.19. The company has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

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.