KPP Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,165 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,231 shares during the quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW traded down $1.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $202.34. 5,260,328 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,426,733. The company has a market capitalization of $134.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The business's 50 day moving average price is $189.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 795,536 shares of company stock worth $141,007,618 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.