Ballentine Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ballentine Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after purchasing an additional 30,013 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,710,943 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $504,523,000 after buying an additional 137,514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $335.82 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $335.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.43. The company has a market cap of $108.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.81, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.