Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Cut by Trust Investment Advisors

Trust Investment Advisors decreased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,281 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.6% of Trust Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $333.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $108.62 billion, a PE ratio of 48.49, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during 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 revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on PANW. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen 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 $366.08.

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.