Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,431 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Marion Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 1,314 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $226,000. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the first quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 47,043 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,027,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% during the first quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 33,163 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 668,962 shares of company stock worth $116,269,690. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $4.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $198.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,311,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,530,608. The business has a 50 day moving average of $179.38 and a 200-day moving average of $185.03. The company has a market cap of $132.12 billion, a PE ratio of 111.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.