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

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,207 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,746 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. May Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $280,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,586 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,653 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,473,000 after acquiring an additional 5,774 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $4.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $187.39. The company had a trading volume of 7,403,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,412,169. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $195.04 and a 200 day moving average of $185.78. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Capital initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.