Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 136.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,507 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,021 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Palo Alto Networks
Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks
In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $122,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4%
Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.88. The company had a trading volume of 16,231,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,730,412. The firm has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.79, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $196.04 and a 200-day moving average of $187.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $210.39.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Palo Alto Networks Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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