Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 9,018 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 14.5% in the first quarter, now owning 53,014 shares valued at approximately $9 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a 15.3% increase in revenue year-over-year, achieving $2.29 billion during the last quarter and surpassing analyst expectations.
• The stock currently has an average price target of $209.61 and a consensus rating classified as "Moderate Buy", with a mix of buy, hold, and sell ratings from analysts.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,014 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 9,018 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $167.06. The stock had a trading volume of 9,831,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,794,964. The company has a market capitalization of $111.40 billion, a PE ratio of 95.46, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $194.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently 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.