Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,531 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,331 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 4.4% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $45,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $5.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $281.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,311,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,046,171. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,153 shares of company stock valued at $44,107,332. Corporate insiders own 3.30% 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.