Umpqua Bank Trims Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Umpqua Bank cut its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,089 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $18.27 on Wednesday, hitting $384.56. 78,084 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,896,593. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.52, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $353.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $234.15 and a one year high of $386.03.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. 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 firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.