Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 456 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,012 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 456 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cascade Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First County Bank CT raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 3,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $340.12 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $336.39 and a 200-day moving average of $313.57.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

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.