Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Sells 270 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,382 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.7% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.76.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PANW stock traded up $2.48 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $389.48. 263,873 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,833,038. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.56 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The firm has a market cap of $126.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $359.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $336.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last 90 days. 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.