Waterloo Capital L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Waterloo Capital L.P. reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,096 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew 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 last quarter. Sepio Capital LP grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First County Bank CT boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $337.93 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $336.41 and a 200-day moving average of $312.63. The company has a market capitalization of $110.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.12, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $233,635,491.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is 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.