Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Has $13.57 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,523 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 215.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 10,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 295,050 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $53,687,000 after buying an additional 150,452 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.16.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $195.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,977,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,403,772. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.03. The company has a market capitalization of $130.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829 over the last 90 days. 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.