Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,922 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $328,000.
Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Palo Alto Networks
Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks
In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,343,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $646,502,253.76. This trade represents a 2.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.
Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance
Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $3.27 during trading on Monday, reaching $196.33. 2,563,808 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,513,814. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $130.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.61, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $180.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.92.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.
About Palo Alto Networks
(
Free Report)
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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