Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Position Reduced by Aveo Capital Partners LLC

Aveo Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 33.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,097 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 542 shares during the quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.61.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $167.06 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.46, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $194.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $210.39.

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