Boston Common Asset Management LLC Takes $5.12 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 29,990 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,117,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $190.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,416,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,559,007. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $178.31 and a 200-day moving average of $184.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.21 billion, a PE ratio of 107.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.