Barden Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Barden Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,913 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 911 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.9% of Barden Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Barden Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $7.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $330.89. 3,220,592 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,579,503. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.17 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $319.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.14 billion, a PE ratio of 48.09, a PEG ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its 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 net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 428,391 shares of company stock worth $136,147,317. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.