Achmea Investment Management B.V. Sells 21,810 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,146 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 21,810 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.0% of Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Achmea Investment Management B.V. owned approximately 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $58,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 112,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $33,038,000 after purchasing an additional 26,767 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 231 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 8,611 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.7 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $341.77 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $110.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $336.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $311.64.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.