Lincoln National Corp Decreases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Lincoln National Corp lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,084 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,911 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.5% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 4,830 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.5% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,796 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,703,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 137,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,226,000 after buying an additional 6,403 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction 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 quarter, insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock worth $80,670,132. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.8 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $303.01 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.75 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The firm has a market cap of $97.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $285.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.47.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

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.