First Interstate Bank Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

First Interstate Bank increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 17.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,283 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,538 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 0.5% of First Interstate Bank's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. First Interstate Bank's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 215.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,828 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $4.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $187.39. 7,403,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,412,721. The company has a market capitalization of $124.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.79. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The firm'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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total transaction of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,243,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,356,888.56. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,080. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.