Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Position Lowered by Advisory Services Network LLC

Advisory Services Network LLC decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 50,948 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,565 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. St. Clair Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 1,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $191.69 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.58. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $133.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305. Corporate insiders own 1.40% 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.