PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 6,096 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,357 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,096 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.92.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $392.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $127.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.19, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $258.17 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $362.55 and its 200 day moving average is $338.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS 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.