Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Sycomore Asset Management

Sycomore Asset Management decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,277 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 8,223 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 13,182 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,506,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Snider Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 8,462 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.3% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 16,316 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 12.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 223,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $76,327,000 after purchasing an additional 24,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $4.46 during trading on Thursday, hitting $397.90. The stock had a trading volume of 581,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,849,081. The firm has a market cap of $129.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.76, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $357.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $335.01. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $234.15 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% 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.