Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,077 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 923 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,372 shares of company stock worth $118,440,693 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $350.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,506,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,430,739. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $330.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $310.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $113.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.