Nicholas Investment Partners LP Cuts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,208 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,563,020,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $177,933,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $188,946,000 after purchasing an additional 249,455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $345.16 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $336.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $311.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.17, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 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.