Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 2,235 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,800 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,235 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Viawealth LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 99.1% in the fourth quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 5,691 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.4% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 139,167 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,323,000 after acquiring an additional 68,679 shares during the last quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 107.4% in the 4th quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,831 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 152.2% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 83,248 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $15,148,000 after acquiring an additional 50,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 82,933 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $15,091,000 after purchasing an additional 40,933 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $4.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $184.96. The stock had a trading volume of 3,408,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,725,901. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.46 billion, a PE ratio of 104.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.