Cambridge Trust Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cambridge Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,513 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 23,325 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.2% of Cambridge Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $28,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PANW traded up $2.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $280.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,160,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,573,424. The stock has a market cap of $90.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.30 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The company 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 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.