Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Trims Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,583 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $912,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.1% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,625 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 17,793 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,247,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 428,391 shares of company stock valued at $136,147,317. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Daiwa America raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $7.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $330.89. 3,227,377 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,640,945. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.17 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $319.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $310.96. The firm has a market cap of $107.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.