Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Sells 10,406 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 10,406 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.8% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the third quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,077,000 after buying an additional 15,091 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of PANW opened at $178.54 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.10. The firm has a market cap of $145.69 billion, a PE ratio of 98.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.