KBC Group NV Reduces Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,987 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 9,147 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $30,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.8% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $1,635,000. Forge First Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $540,000. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,965,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $387.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,202,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,849,976. The firm has a market cap of $126.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.43, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $234.15 and a one year high of $408.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $358.84 and a 200 day moving average of $335.42.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $381.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.