Chicago Capital LLC Buys 4,924 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Chicago Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 305.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,535 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares during the quarter. Chicago Capital LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the first quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 3,198 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,507,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 24,564 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $4,263,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 55.6% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,338 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,026,000 after purchasing an additional 27,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of PANW stock traded down $2.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $199.78. The company had a trading volume of 3,321,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,472,441. The stock's 50-day moving average is $186.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays dropped 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. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. 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. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.