Advisor Resource Council Invests $3.57 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 20,923 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,570,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 41,759 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $7,598,000 after purchasing an additional 16,405 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded up $4.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $203.32. 4,464,708 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,440,760. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $188.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.08. The company has a market cap of $135.57 billion, a PE ratio of 116.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on 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, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 790,536 shares of company stock valued at $139,998,368. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.