Dover Advisors LLC Sells 1,628 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Dover Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,024 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,628 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 2.7% of Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Northland Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $291.42. 2,246,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.30 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

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.