Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. Sells 2,357 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 55.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 2,357 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $202.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $134.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.46, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.16.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

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.