Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,207 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,746 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in 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. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in 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 boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in 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, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the 1st 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. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $2.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $206.06. 3,085,020 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,384,103. The company has a market cap of $137.40 billion, a PE ratio of 117.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.62.

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 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $127,820,829 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.