Stonegate Investment Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 216,408 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,389 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.9% of Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Stonegate Investment Group LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $73,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 2nd 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 period. Herbst Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 9,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,313,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.15.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.48 on Friday, reaching $373.67. The stock had a trading volume of 346,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,030,719. The company has a market capitalization of $120.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $347.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.01.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company 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%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.