Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 110.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,493 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,067 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in 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 raised its holdings in 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 worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 668,962 shares of company stock worth $116,269,690. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.6%

PANW traded up $3.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $197.18. 3,540,615 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,531,417. The company has a market capitalization of $131.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.09, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.03.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.