Montag & Caldwell LLC Trims Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Montag & Caldwell LLC lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,785 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 26,911 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 2.5% of Montag & Caldwell LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th 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. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $102,670,000 after acquiring an additional 431,228 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 463.5% in the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 493,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,591,000 after buying an additional 405,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirova US LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $106,638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.06 on Monday, hitting $294.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,584,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,375,584. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $287.61 and a 200-day moving average of $292.58. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.30 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Northland Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 122,917 shares of company stock worth $33,959,203. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.