Arkadios Wealth Advisors Buys 28,884 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors has significantly increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, purchasing 28,884 shares and raising its holdings by 377.2% to a total of 36,542 shares valued at approximately $6.24 million.
• Several other institutional investors have also boosted their positions in Palo Alto Networks, with Geode Capital Management increasing its holdings by 87.8% and owning 14.38 million shares worth around $2.61 billion.
• Palo Alto Networks recently reported earnings per share of $0.80, exceeding analyst expectations, and showed a 15.3% year-over-year revenue increase with total revenue for the quarter at $2.29 billion.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 377.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,542 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,884 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after buying 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. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,298,914.52. The trade was a 33.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of PANW stock traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $172.88. 16,231,498 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,904,851. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $196.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.19. The company has a market capitalization of $115.28 billion, a PE ratio of 98.79, a PEG ratio of 5.11 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.