Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.6%, owning 477,454 shares after selling 23,061 shares during the first quarter.
• Palo Alto Networks reported $0.80 EPS for its latest quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.77, and achieved a revenue of $2.29 billion, up 15.3% year-over-year.
• As of the most recent filings, approximately 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks' stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 477,454 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 23,061 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 2.0% of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC owned 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $81,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 53,760 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $9,782,000 after purchasing an additional 21,660 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $236,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 27,559 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,015,000 after acquiring an additional 15,315 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Northland Securities reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Roth Capital assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded up $1.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $168.17. 10,213,853 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,096,348. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.23 and a 200 day simple 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. The company has a market cap of $112.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.10, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94.

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

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.