Norway Savings Bank Sells 1,059 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Norway Savings Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,059 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.9% of Norway Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAM Holding AG purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,886,000. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 47.9% during the 1st quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,691 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 161.8% in the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,780 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% in the first quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 32,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,607,000 after buying an additional 1,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dupont Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $4,977,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total value of $19,336,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,343,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,502,253.76. This trade represents a 2.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

PANW opened at $199.24 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.31. The firm has a market cap of $132.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.