True North Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

True North Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cape ANN Savings Bank grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 59.4% during the third quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 2,209 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $755,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 32,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 99.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,343 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,647,000. Finally, Marion Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $210,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $354.20 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $339.01 and a 200-day moving average of $318.22. The firm has a market cap of $114.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $233.81 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Northland Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.50.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,866 shares of company stock valued at $88,620,447 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.