Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Holdings Cut by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,318 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Parisi Gray Wealth Management lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,527 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,061 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Capital One Financial cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.4 %

PANW stock traded down $7.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $295.67. The stock had a trading volume of 3,001,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,209,132. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.49, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.75 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $285.75 and a 200 day moving average of $294.47.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock worth $80,670,132. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.