Sigma Planning Corp Sells 4,956 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 55.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,962 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,956 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,215,410,000 after buying an additional 304,272 shares during 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 worth $804,199,000 after buying an additional 86,995 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted 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 worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,662,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $389,832,000 after buying an additional 36,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cadian Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 26.7% in the third quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 1,204,676 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,424,000 after buying an additional 253,500 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $281.68 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $293.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.51. The firm has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.01, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

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 firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Redburn Atlantic upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

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.