Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Holdings Reduced by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 20.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 16,507 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after purchasing an additional 377,496 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after buying an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $675,865,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.0%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $191.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.67. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $130.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,675,777.46. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $215.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.