Sigma Planning Corp Sells 4,956 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 55.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,962 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,956 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,215,410,000 after purchasing an additional 304,272 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $804,199,000 after purchasing an additional 86,995 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,662,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $389,832,000 after purchasing an additional 36,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cadian Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 26.7% during the third quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 1,204,676 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,424,000 after purchasing an additional 253,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Wedbush boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of PANW opened at $281.68 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.30 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $293.65 and its 200 day moving average is $291.51. The stock has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

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.