Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Holdings Lifted by BluePointe Capital Management LLC

BluePointe Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 73.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,890 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 5,048 shares during the period. BluePointe Capital Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8%

PANW stock traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $192.25. The company had a trading volume of 3,959,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,413,517. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.19 billion, a PE ratio of 109.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $195.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.