Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,355 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.3% of L & S Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after buying an additional 114,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $392.89 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $362.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.41. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $258.17 and a 1-year high of $408.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. TD Cowen increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.56.

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.