Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.8%, now holding 47,565 shares valued at $8.11 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a 15.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.29 billion, with EPS of $0.80, beating analyst expectations.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $209.42, although some have lowered their price estimates.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,565 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 5,195 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.4%

PANW stock traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,136,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,888,011. The stock has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a PE ratio of 98.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The company's 50 day moving average is $196.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.19.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Barclays dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.