Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 228,418 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 42,103 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 5.6% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $67,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GSG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after purchasing an additional 113,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of PANW stock traded down $5.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $288.79. 2,707,232 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,462,925. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $290.67 and its 200-day moving average is $291.86. The company has a market cap of $93.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.30 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

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.