Colonial Trust Advisors Has $18.32 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Colonial Trust Advisors cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,334 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.6% of Colonial Trust Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 767 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,524 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,369,000 after buying an additional 3,473 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 93.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,160,308 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $211,150,000 after buying an additional 560,973 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $176.17 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.35. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.67, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently 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.