Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Lowered by GraniteShares Advisors LLC

GraniteShares Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,294 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $197.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $183.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.