Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 854,579 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 35,181 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Palo Alto Networks worth $145,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $192.07 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $195.05 and its 200 day moving average is $185.79. The company has a market capitalization of $128.07 billion, a PE ratio of 109.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 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.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. 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 business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at $47,298,914.52. This trade represents a 33.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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