AIA Group Ltd Sells 275 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 18.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,193 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,031,000. Phoenix Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Holdings Ltd. now owns 770,576 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $180,679,000 after purchasing an additional 43,956 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 207 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,215,410,000 after purchasing an additional 304,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Symmetry Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.6 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $336.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $108.96 billion, a PE ratio of 48.91, a P/E/G ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $316.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $309.53. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.17 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 428,391 shares of company stock valued at $136,147,317. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.