PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 6,096 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,357 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,096 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $174,124,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $94,875,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $392.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.19, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $258.17 and a 1-year high of $408.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $362.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.