Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Alterity Financial Group LLC

Alterity Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,533 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $284.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $319.37 and a 200-day moving average of $286.07. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on PANW shares. 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. Wedbush raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $272.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John Donovan sold 7,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.03, for a total transaction of $2,310,210.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,007,160.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Donovan sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.03, for a total value of $2,310,210.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,007,160.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,153 shares of company stock worth $44,107,332. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.