Tran Capital Management L.P. Reduces Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Tran Capital Management L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 17,081 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 4.3% of Tran Capital Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Tran Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First United Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.5% in the first quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 3,738 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,483 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Axecap Investments LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Axecap Investments LLC now owns 8,669 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northeast Investment Management boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 1st quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 99,460 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,972,000 after purchasing an additional 42,226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $194.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $129.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $182.38 and its 200 day moving average is $185.09. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company 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.