Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Cuts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 98.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,507 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 286,126 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after buying an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 359,732 shares of company stock valued at $118,815,557 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $332.13 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $337.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $316.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.09 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $108.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.27, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current 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.