Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC Sells 4,676 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 77.2% during the first quarter, leaving it with 1,379 shares worth approximately $235,000.
• Other institutional investors, such as Aberdeen Group and Ethic Inc., increased their holdings in Palo Alto Networks, with Aberdeen Group's stake growing by 95.4% to 526,685 shares valued at nearly $88.8 million.
• Palo Alto Networks recently reported a revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 15.3% year-over-year increase and beating analyst expectations.

Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 77.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,379 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,676 shares during the quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Northland Securities lowered their target price 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. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.79.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $177.09. 9,535,538 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,547,861. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $192.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.08 billion, a PE ratio of 101.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total value of $20,722,402.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares in the company, valued at $35,468,674.44. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $122,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,452,332. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.