Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 26,284 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 345,205 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,284 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned about 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $58,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in 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 during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $203.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $135.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $196.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.72. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Northland Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.42.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.