Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 18.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,949 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,981 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 18,983 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,239,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snider Financial Group boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the first quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,729 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,025,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $200.57. 5,339,865 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,395,844. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.33. The company has a market cap of $133.74 billion, a PE ratio of 114.61, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.97.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 795,536 shares of company stock worth $141,007,618 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.