U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 4,483 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 56.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,470 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,483 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $192.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.07 billion, a PE ratio of 109.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Two investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 235,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,298,914.52. The trade was a 33.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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