Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,256 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.2% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.1% during the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,166 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 14.2% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 54,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after acquiring an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 164.7% in the first quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 16,712 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,852,000 after acquiring an additional 10,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.7% in the first quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 37,771 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,445,000 after acquiring an additional 5,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,343,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,502,253.76. The trade was a 2.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $196.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $180.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $130.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.