Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 133,774 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,057 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after acquiring an additional 23,586 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 131.0% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 19,703 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,585,000 after acquiring an additional 11,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,971 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stephens cut Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.61.

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, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4%

PANW opened at $172.88 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $210.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.29. The firm has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.95.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.

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