Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,203 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 671 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $44,497,000 after purchasing an additional 113,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,143,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $293.96. 2,014,482 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,485,953. The firm has a market cap of $94.98 billion, a PE ratio of 46.01, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.30 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.