Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 18,564 shares valued at about $3.42 million.
• Insider selling was reported as well, including sales by CAO Josh D. Paul and EVP Dipak Golechha; insiders sold 30,356 shares worth nearly $5.0 million over the last 90 days.
• Palo Alto Networks recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.03 EPS on revenue of $2.59 billion, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with a target price of $211.64.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 42.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,564 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 13,668 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $136,859,000 after acquiring an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,554,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,418,150.40. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $207.88 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.85, a P/E/G ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $166.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group set a $183.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. New Street Research reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.64.

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.

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