Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Holdings Cut by Carroll Investors Inc

Carroll Investors Inc trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,066 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 5.6% of Carroll Investors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Carroll Investors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 428,391 shares of company stock worth $136,147,317. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.59.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $6.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $326.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,709,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,294,796. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.17 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $321.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $312.31.

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

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.