Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,478 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Snider Financial Group boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,729 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,025,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $199.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a PE ratio of 114.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

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.