Westwood Wealth Management Sells 225 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Westwood Wealth Management lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,753 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.9% of Westwood Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Westwood Wealth Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first 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 bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $344.17 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $336.46 and its 200-day moving average is $313.98. The firm has a market cap of $111.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.64 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.