Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Sells 83,422 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 228,931 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 83,422 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.4% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $67,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,961 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.5% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 425 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.48. 1,964,967 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,602,994. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.27. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The firm has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a PE ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

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.