Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is United Asset Strategies Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

United Asset Strategies Inc. trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 2,180 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 2.2% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven 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, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PANW traded up $1.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $273.83. 1,356,221 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,621,617. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.30 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $302.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.99. The company has a market cap of $88.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.