Elequin Capital LP Sells 4,267,673 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Elequin Capital LP lessened its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,267,673 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $194.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $128.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $178.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.46.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.