Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Financial Partners Group LLC

Financial Partners Group LLC cut its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,960 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,017 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 4.5% of Financial Partners Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Financial Partners Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $2.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $199.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,321,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,472,441. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $186.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.