Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys 14,885 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 107.4%, owning a total of 28,741 shares worth approximately $4.9 million after acquiring 14,885 additional shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Northern Trust Corp, have also raised their positions in Palo Alto Networks, highlighting strong institutional interest as they now own 79.82% of the company's stock.
• Palo Alto Networks has received various analyst ratings, with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.79, following a report of earnings that exceeded expectations.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 107.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,741 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 14,885 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total transaction of $20,722,402.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 206,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,468,674.44. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Northland Securities cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $496.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.79.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $177.09 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $118.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $192.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.41. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

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