Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 45,295 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 16.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 228,431 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 45,295 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $77,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 88,500 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $497,000. Bailard Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 29,521 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,008,000 after purchasing an additional 5,483 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Patten Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 2,879 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.1 %

PANW traded down $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $346.85. 140,855 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,399,005. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $224.64 and a one year high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.31 billion, a PE ratio of 50.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $330.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $310.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.