Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Sells 7,708 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 7,708 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 2.3% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $358,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price target (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $186.85 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $130.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.26, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $199.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were 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 owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 381,922 shares of company stock worth $78,904,239 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.