DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 357,119 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,509 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $60,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 18,983 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,239,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Northland Securities lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.
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Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks
In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,343,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $646,502,253.76. This trade represents a 2.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 293,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,458,002.70. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 547,948 shares of company stock valued at $103,462,223. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.
Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.0%
Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.07 on Wednesday, reaching $206.06. 3,085,020 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,376,958. The company has a fifty day moving average of $194.55 and a 200-day moving average of $185.62. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $137.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.75, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.97.
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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Palo Alto Networks Profile
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Free Report)
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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