Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by LRI Investments LLC

LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 65.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,894 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in 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 buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after purchasing 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, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total value of $24,258,665.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at $47,298,914.52. This trade represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Northland Securities decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $187.39 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $195.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.73. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $124.95 billion, a PE ratio of 107.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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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