Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Vinva Investment Management Ltd

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,084 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 503 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,100,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,830 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. This represents a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total transaction of $153,979.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at $10,449,674.85. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $190.32 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $207.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.