Sowell Financial Services LLC Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,044 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth 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 period. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 99.9% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $198.11 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $185.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.04. The stock has a market cap of $132.10 billion, a PE ratio of 111.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on 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. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

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