Hudock Inc. Trims Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Hudock Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,359 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Hudock Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $6.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $371.07. 202,093 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,978,073. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.29, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $350.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.17. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $384.00.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents 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, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.