McDonough Capital Management Inc Acquires 1,433 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

McDonough Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 67.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,553 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the period. McDonough Capital Management Inc's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $195.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,345,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,589,408. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $130.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.20, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.03.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.