Zega Financial LLC Cuts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Zega Financial LLC lowered its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,949 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 0.4% of Zega Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Zega Financial LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $336,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $840,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 65,572 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $19,336,000 after buying an additional 6,217 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,903 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $337.93 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $110.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.12, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $336.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $312.63.

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

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.