Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by GS Investments Inc.

GS Investments Inc. reduced its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,009 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $193.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.18. The stock has a market cap of $129.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.77, a PEG ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.42.

Palo Alto Networks 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.