Values First Advisors Inc. Sells 85 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Values First Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,151 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after acquiring an additional 113,534 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. Clough Capital Partners L P lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P now owns 61,120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $14,329,000 after acquiring an additional 23,265 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,002,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. 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. Mizuho cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $284.13. 3,400,498 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,726,015. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $319.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.07. The company has a market cap of $91.80 billion, a PE ratio of 44.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.21. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John Donovan sold 20,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.57, for a total transaction of $5,810,645.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,510,086.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Donovan sold 20,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.57, for a total value of $5,810,645.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,510,086.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,153 shares of company stock valued at $44,107,332. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.