Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,291 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% during the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $296.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $285.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.01. The stock has a market cap of $95.71 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $177.09 and a one year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.