Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 139,279 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 25,823 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $47,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $339,183,000 after buying an additional 73,922 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW traded down $3.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $374.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 510,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,009,804. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $349.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $233.81 and a fifty-two week high of $384.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.48, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven 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. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 over the last three months. Company 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.