Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 80,971 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,116,206 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 80,971 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Palo Alto Networks worth $190,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 15,075 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,698,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 56,863 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $9,703,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,776 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Novem Group increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 35.8% during the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 7,328 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,250,000 after buying an additional 1,933 shares during the period. Finally, Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34.3% during the first quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,697 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 945 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Northland Securities reduced their price target on shares of 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. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 668,722 shares of company stock worth $121,714,798. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.53 on Friday, hitting $201.50. The stock had a trading volume of 2,561,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,403,583. The stock has a market cap of $134.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $193.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.42.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.