Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Fiducient Advisors LLC

Fiducient Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,884 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.3% of Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,215,410,000 after acquiring an additional 304,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $804,199,000 after buying an additional 86,995 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $771,643,000 after buying an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,662,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $389,832,000 after buying an additional 36,859 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $2.52 on Tuesday, reaching $290.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,170,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,366,852. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $284.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.04. The firm has a market cap of $93.99 billion, a PE ratio of 45.45, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.30 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. 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 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,917 shares of company stock valued at $33,959,203 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. Northland Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

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.