First Interstate Bank raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 0.5% of First Interstate Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. First Interstate Bank's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 56,111 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $9,575,000 after buying an additional 3,681 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,612 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 130.1% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 872 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,697 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $4,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.
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Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%
NASDAQ PANW traded up $2.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $206.06. 3,085,020 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,384,103. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $137.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $194.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.62.
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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks
In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total transaction of $24,258,665.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,298,914.52. This trade represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock worth $127,820,829 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.
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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