Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Marco Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Marco Investment Management LLC has increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3%, owning 136,550 shares valued at approximately $23.30 million, which represents 2.2% of its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Geode Capital Management and Northern Trust Corp, have significantly increased their positions in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.80 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and its revenue increased by 15.3% year-over-year to $2.29 billion.

Marco Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 136,550 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,721 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.2% of Marco Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Marco Investment Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $23,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after acquiring an additional 23,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,087,682 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $197,915,000 after acquiring an additional 535,124 shares during the period. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.5% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 79,134 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $14,399,000 after acquiring an additional 44,034 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. HSBC raised 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.61.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total transaction of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.66. The stock had a trading volume of 11,388,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,867,422. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The firm has a market cap of $115.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.