Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Has $16.75 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,132 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 5,472 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.0% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $16,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 448,474 shares of company stock worth $88,420,934 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of PANW opened at $171.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $114.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $210.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $195.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.32.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.61.

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.