Clarus Wealth Advisors Has $961,000 Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Clarus Wealth Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,553 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Financial Corp IN boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% during the first quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 6,757 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the first quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 6,464 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 21.5% during the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $349,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 18,004 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $194.86 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.93 billion, a PE ratio of 109.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.50 and its 200 day moving average is $184.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

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.