Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Decreases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 19.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,749 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,251 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $388.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,374,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,836,183. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $360.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $337.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $249.56 and a one year high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $391.92.

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.