Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 683 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,826 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 683 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 0.9% of Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.87.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $7.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $405.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 420,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,856,912. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $356.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $334.54. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $234.15 and a 1-year high of $405.60. The company has a market cap of $131.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

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.