CIBC Asset Management Inc Lowers Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

CIBC Asset Management Inc lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 277,169 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 5,056 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $56,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $192.96 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Stephens increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.