Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Purchases 150,843 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 10,123.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,333 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 150,843 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 668,722 shares of company stock worth $121,714,798. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Northland Securities cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $4.53 on Friday, reaching $201.50. 2,561,725 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,398,532. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $193.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.44. The firm has a market cap of $134.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.14, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 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 posted 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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.