Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Holdings Reduced by AtonRa Partners

AtonRa Partners lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,453 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. AtonRa Partners’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% during the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Northland Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $293.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,980,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,393,582. The company has a market cap of $94.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $287.61 and its 200-day moving average is $292.58.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,917 shares of company stock worth $33,959,203 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% 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.