Avity Investment Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Avity Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 131,720 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $22,477,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.8% of Avity Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during 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 increased its position in 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 valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during 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 increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during 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. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW traded down $3.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $196.33. 2,563,808 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,513,814. The company has a market cap of $130.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The stock's 50-day moving average is $180.48 and its 200-day moving average is $184.92.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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.