Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Bfsg LLC

Bfsg LLC cut its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 50.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,736 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 19,346 shares during the quarter. Bfsg LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Roth Capital began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $198.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $132.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $185.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

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

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.

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