Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Picton Mahoney Asset Management

Picton Mahoney Asset Management lowered its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,352 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 17,678 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 0.5% of Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,527 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,061 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.6 %

PANW stock traded up $4.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $305.52. The stock had a trading volume of 4,603,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,257,741. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.75 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,917 shares of company stock worth $44,335,843 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective 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 decreased their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

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.