Marietta Wealth Management LLC Sells 478 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Marietta Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,532 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.2% of Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. RB Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.9% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $6,910,000. United Bank raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 2,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 13.6% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $1,022,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.11 on Tuesday, hitting $274.26. 1,563,755 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,624,733. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $302.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.99. 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 $88.61 billion, a PE ratio of 42.46, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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. Insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last 90 days. 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.