Aberdeen Group plc Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc significantly increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 95.4%, acquiring an additional 257,180 shares and now owns approximately 526,685 shares valued at $88.78 million.
• Company insiders have sold 669,248 shares worth approximately $126.4 million in the last three months, indicating a decrease in their ownership stakes.
• The stock has received mixed analyst ratings, with estimates for a current year EPS of 1.76, while its average target price is set at $217.01.

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 95.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 526,685 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 257,180 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $88,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,803,000 after acquiring an additional 10,868 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of PANW stock traded up $3.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $177.09. 9,535,538 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,547,861. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The firm has a market cap of $118.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.79.

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.