Connors Investor Services Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Connors Investor Services Inc. cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 2,775 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after buying an additional 1,187,915 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 428,391 shares of company stock valued at $136,147,317 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $7.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $330.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,227,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,640,945. The company has a market cap of $107.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $319.78 and its 200-day moving average is $311.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.17 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.59.

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.