Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 3,425 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Moors & Cabot Inc. lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,719 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,425 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after buying an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $916,099,000 after acquiring an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $822,079,000 after purchasing an additional 17,394 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 25.1% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 3,532,201 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $750,875,000 after purchasing an additional 708,332 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $167.45 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $136.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.51, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $169.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, New Street Research cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.