GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Has $8.12 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 29.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,601 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 19,991 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.1% of GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.8%

PANW opened at $194.39 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $129.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.09.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% 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.