Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Reduced by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Transcend Capital Advisors reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 59.2% in Q4, selling 6,473 shares and now holding 4,469 shares valued at about $823,000.
• Company insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares worth $4.98 million over the past 90 days (insider ownership now 1.40%), including notable director sales by John P. Key and James J. Goetz.
• Analysts' consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $209.95 despite several recent price-target cuts, and the company recently beat Q results (EPS $1.03 vs. $0.94) with revenue up 14.9% year‑over‑year.

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 59.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,469 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 6,473 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,389,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $164.11 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $133.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.