Goepper Burkhardt LLC Decreases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Goepper Burkhardt LLC lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 707 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the period. Goepper Burkhardt LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cascade Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First County Bank CT lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 3,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $340.12 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $336.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.33. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $110.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total transaction of $22,436,448.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,635,491.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks 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.