Searle & CO. Sells 100 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Searle & CO. cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,567 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 2.3% of Searle & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.2% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,396 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 257,313 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $87,950,000 after purchasing an additional 11,808 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.8% during the third quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 20,399 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $3,493,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded down $10.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $365.15. The company had a trading volume of 866,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,999,706. The company has a market capitalization of $118.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $233.81 and a twelve month high of $384.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.