HM Payson & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

HM Payson & Co. decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 493 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 315,252 shares of company stock worth $107,138,877. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $360.33 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $233.81 and a 52 week high of $384.00. The stock has a market cap of $117.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $352.45 and a 200-day moving average of $328.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.