HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $4.56 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,422 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 4,055 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 18.3% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 77,969 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,305,000 after purchasing an additional 12,085 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the first quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,988 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Aire Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the first quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 2,530 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 18.2% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.6%

PANW traded down $3.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $196.73. The stock had a trading volume of 3,655,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,401,540. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.10.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,356,888.56. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on PANW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.16.

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.