Washington Trust Bank Sells 916 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Washington Trust Bank lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,687 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 916 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 2.3% of Washington Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% during the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 2,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,858 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,078,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,789 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. David J Yvars Group grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. David J Yvars Group now owns 9,107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $877,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PANW shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $5.79 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $379.39. 156,656 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,890,563. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.32. The company has a market cap of $123.53 billion, a PE ratio of 53.13, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $234.15 and a twelve month high of $386.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current 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.