CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 3,067 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,067 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 91.5% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,520 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $364.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $118.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $350.84 and its 200 day moving average is $325.17. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents 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 news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents 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, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 over the last three months. 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.