Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 980 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 21.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $7.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $324.73. 2,040,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,456,120. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $321.66 and its 200 day moving average is $312.25. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.17 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total value of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at $369,443,596.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 392,391 shares of company stock worth $125,770,677 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.