Lincoln National Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Lincoln National Corp reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,084 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,911 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in 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 valued at $44,497,000 after acquiring an additional 113,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock worth $80,670,132. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $303.01 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $285.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.47. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.75 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.