King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $54.07 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. by 32.3%, owning a total of 316,860 shares valued at approximately $54 million as of the end of the last quarter.
• Insiders at Palo Alto Networks sold a significant number of shares, with total insider sales reaching 669,248 shares valued at over $126 million in the last 90 days.
• Analysts have mixed views on Palo Alto Networks, with price targets ranging from $130 to $235 and the stock receiving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 32.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 316,860 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 77,418 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $54,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $1.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $168.17. 10,213,853 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,096,348. The company has a market cap of $112.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $194.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Roth Capital began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" 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 assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.07.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.