Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,446 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Guggenheim reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $199.78 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $186.18 and its 200-day moving average is $185.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.