Avanza Fonder AB Sells 4,892 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Avanza Fonder AB trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,627 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,892 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. JMP Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $196.33 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.95. The company has a market cap of $130.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.