Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Has $15.09 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 108.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,413 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,025 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 2.4% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $1.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $194.39. The stock had a trading volume of 3,460,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,494,323. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.03. The stock has a market cap of $129.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company 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. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.