Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Buys 644,413 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2,511.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 670,067 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 644,413 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $125,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 293,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total transaction of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Northland Securities cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.16.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded down $3.15 on Tuesday, hitting $196.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,655,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,399,274. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.58 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $195.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.10.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.