Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,940 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $192.59 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.85. The company has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 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.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

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.