Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $7.01 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in **Palo Alto Networks, Inc.** (NASDAQ:PANW) by **108.7%**, owning a total of **41,050 shares** valued at **$7,005,000** as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds, including **Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.** and **Sit Investment Associates Inc.**, have also increased their holdings in PANW during the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of **$0.80 per share** for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and its revenue grew by **15.3%** year-over-year, totaling **$2.29 billion**.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 108.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,050 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, SWAN Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $177.09. The company had a trading volume of 9,535,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,547,861. The business's 50-day moving average is $192.00 and its 200 day moving average is $186.41. The company has a market cap of $118.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.19, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, 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 transaction of $99,940.00. Following the sale, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.79.

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.