Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Holdings Lowered by TimesSquare Capital Management LLC

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 301,389 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 163,586 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.3% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $88,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,215,410,000 after acquiring an additional 304,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after buying an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $515,147,000 after buying an additional 84,151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $295.67. The stock had a trading volume of 3,001,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,209,249. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $186.75 and a one year high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $95.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly 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 firm 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’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 owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. 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 $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock worth $80,670,132. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.