Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Zega Financial LLC

Zega Financial LLC cut its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,949 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.4% of Zega Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Zega Financial LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,710,943 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $504,523,000 after purchasing an additional 137,514 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,183,000 after purchasing an additional 73,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $337.93 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.63. The company has a market cap of $110.03 billion, a PE ratio of 49.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $224.64 and a 12 month high of $380.84.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.