Fifth Third Bancorp Lowers Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,370,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,253 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 0.9% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $233,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.3% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,483 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Axecap Investments LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 28.9% during the first quarter. Axecap Investments LLC now owns 8,669 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 14.2% during the first quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Investment Management raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the first quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 99,460 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,972,000 after purchasing an additional 42,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 41,837 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,139,000 after purchasing an additional 19,975 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $194.39 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.09. The stock has a market cap of $129.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.52, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.