Advisors Preferred LLC Makes New $548,000 Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,200 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,491,000 after buying an additional 10,180 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.27. The stock had a trading volume of 3,457,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,372,287. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.42.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total transaction of $24,258,665.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at $47,298,914.52. This represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.