Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by SGL Investment Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• SGL Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.3%, owning 25,555 shares after selling 2,925 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock for approximately $22.86 million, resulting in a 29.19% decrease in his ownership position.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a quarterly earnings of $0.80 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue growing 15.3% year-over-year to $2.29 billion.

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,555 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,925 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 2.5% of SGL Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. SGL Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,410,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares during the period. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,868 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,080. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $172.88 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $210.39. The company has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a PE ratio of 98.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $196.04 and a 200-day moving average of $187.29.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.

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.

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