Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,225 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 981 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 4.2% of Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $362.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.98, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $233.81 and a fifty-two week high of $384.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $352.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $327.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Eleven equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.82.

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.