Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by TimesSquare Capital Management LLC

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 301,389 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 163,586 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.3% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $88,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after acquiring an additional 113,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,143,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $7.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $295.67. 3,001,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,209,249. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.75 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.53.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock worth $80,670,132 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.