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

Consolidated Investment Group LLC lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,782 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,850 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.2% of Consolidated Investment Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Consolidated Investment Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in 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 buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, 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. Two 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $0.54 on Friday, hitting $199.24. The company had a trading volume of 8,285,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,444,625. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $187.43 and a 200 day moving average of $185.08. The company has a market cap of $132.85 billion, a PE ratio of 113.85, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 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. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.