Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 99.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 662 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 85,118 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.16.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $196.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $131.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $195.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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