Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Sandhill Capital Partners LLC

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 228,418 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 42,103 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 5.6% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $67,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Parisi Gray Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,061 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $5.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $288.79. 2,707,232 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,462,925. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $93.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $290.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.86.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.