HM Payson & Co. Cuts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

by · The Markets Daily

HM Payson & Co. lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Free Report) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 493 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $360.33 on Friday. The company 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. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $384.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $352.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 315,252 shares of company stock valued at $107,138,877. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

View Our Latest Research Report on Palo Alto Networks

About Palo Alto Networks

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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