Leavell Investment Management Inc. Lowers Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,847 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was 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 owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $391.40 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $355.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $332.74. The stock has a market cap of $127.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $234.15 and a 12-month high of $393.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.