Bailard Inc. Has $11.29 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bailard Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,184 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 3,733 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 215.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 4,616 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 2,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 110.9% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,214 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.69 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $196.28. 4,297,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,411,936. The business's 50-day moving average is $195.25 and its 200-day moving average is $185.85. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $122,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.