Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,524 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,804 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 126.1% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,176 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 2,329 shares in the last quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $196.27. The company had a trading volume of 3,815,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,482,755. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $184.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.11. The firm has a market cap of $130.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.