Clarity Financial LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Clarity Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,763 shares during the period. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $361.12 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $352.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $330.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $233.81 and a 12 month high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. BNP Paribas started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

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.