Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Elite Wealth Management Inc.

Elite Wealth Management Inc. trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 95.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 789 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 16,706 shares during the period. Elite Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after buying an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,183,000 after acquiring an additional 73,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $333.60 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.89. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $224.64 and a one year high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PANW. DA Davidson increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

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.