Kaizen Financial Strategies Sells 100 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kaizen Financial Strategies reduced its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,100 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Kaizen Financial Strategies’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $190.78 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.96. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $127.21 billion, a PE ratio of 107.48, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

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.