Hodges Capital Management Inc. Has $2.24 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,866 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,347 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Daiwa America upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $339.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.16. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.17 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $109.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,182 shares of company stock valued at $74,850,597 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.