Howard Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,214 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,196 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.42.

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Read Our Latest Analysis on PANW

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 5.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $193.84 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $210.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $196.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.97.

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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, 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 value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% 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 valued at $111,279,829 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.

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