Calton & Associates Inc. Takes $296,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,790 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.1%

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $199.38. The stock had a trading volume of 933,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,371,564. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm's 50 day moving average is $195.97 and its 200 day moving average is $186.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm 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 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.42.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.