Townsquare Capital LLC Has $11.06 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC has reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. by 10.1%, owning 64,826 shares worth $11,062,000 after selling 7,270 shares recently.
• Other institutional investors, including Rehmann Capital Advisory Group and Shorepoint Capital Partners, increased their positions in Palo Alto Networks, indicating mixed sentiment amongst hedge funds.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with target prices ranging from $177 to $235, while the overall consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy".

Townsquare Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,826 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,270 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,082,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,862,718 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $411,292,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,539 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded down $1.04 on Friday, reaching $167.06. The company had a trading volume of 9,831,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,794,964. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $111.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94. The company's fifty day moving average is $194.23 and its 200 day moving average is $186.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,080. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.61.

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.