Tran Capital Management L.P. Sells 17,081 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Tran Capital Management L.P. cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,400 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 17,081 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 4.3% of Tran Capital Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Tran Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.28 on Thursday, hitting $197.67. 4,157,094 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,491,258. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $131.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.09.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.