L & S Advisors Inc Sells 666 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

L & S Advisors Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,355 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.3% of L & S Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during 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 period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during 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 raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $392.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.92 billion, a PE ratio of 54.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $258.17 and a 12 month high of $408.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $362.55 and its 200 day moving average is $338.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.56.

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.