Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,730 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.6% in the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 149.5% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 378,537 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $64,594,000 after acquiring an additional 10,123 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $2,447,000. Finally, Abacus FCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.6% in the first quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 88,413 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $15,087,000 after acquiring an additional 46,025 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.27. 3,815,861 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,484,807. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.11. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

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 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reduced their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.