Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Reduces Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,169 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,638 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 190.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 146.5% in the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 493 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 74.6% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 782 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 363,133 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $107,081,000 after acquiring an additional 75,183 shares during the period. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 1,495 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen 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 MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.63.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $9.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $334.11. 4,533,366 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,787,649. The company has a market capitalization of $108.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $326.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.85. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.17 and a 1 year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 367,315 shares of company stock valued at $118,696,590. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.