Capital Advisors Inc. OK Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 243,684 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,210 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $41,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th 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 lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th 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. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in 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 buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, 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 value of $122,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,452,332. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,080. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $127,820,829. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $13.99 during trading on Thursday, hitting $192.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,206,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,399,723. The company has a market capitalization of $128.07 billion, a PE ratio of 109.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.