Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Sells 2,469 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,301 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,469 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total transaction of $24,258,665.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at $47,298,914.52. This represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.39 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $195.04 and a 200-day moving average of $185.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 earned $0.66 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

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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