Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Advisor Resource Council

Advisor Resource Council cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 68.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,284 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 7,011 shares during the quarter. Advisor Resource Council’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 362,525 shares of company stock valued at $110,064,607 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of PANW traded up $0.76 on Thursday, reaching $341.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,022,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,980,896. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.17 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $309.18 and a 200 day moving average of $307.63.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. 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 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.