Qsemble Capital Management LP Trims Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Qsemble Capital Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 75.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,233 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,810 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,984,983.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 428,391 shares of company stock valued at $136,147,317. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $8.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $330.07. The company had a trading volume of 654,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,592,529. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $317.96 and its 200 day moving average is $310.31. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.17 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $106.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Argus upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

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.