Gradient Investments LLC Sells 3,131 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,184 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 3,131 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $20,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $296.21. The stock had a trading volume of 3,438,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,429,938. The firm has a market cap of $95.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.09 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The business's 50-day moving average is $285.98 and its 200 day moving average is $293.25.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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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