Alterity Financial Group LLC Sells 135 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Alterity Financial Group LLC cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,533 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,215,410,000 after acquiring an additional 304,272 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $751,276,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $804,199,000 after purchasing an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,376,601 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $673,731,000 after acquiring an additional 92,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,662,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $389,832,000 after acquiring an additional 36,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John Donovan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.03, for a total value of $2,310,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,007,160.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 143,153 shares of company stock valued at $44,107,332. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $284.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.21. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.30 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $319.37 and a 200-day moving average of $286.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The business 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.