Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 19.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,082 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,703 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 8,727 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total value of $10,559,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,443,596.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 367,993 shares of company stock worth $118,938,210. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $8.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $359.75. 4,999,238 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,444,848. 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 market capitalization of $116.49 billion, a PE ratio of 52.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.