Richmond Investment Services LLC Acquires Shares of 1,498 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Richmond Investment Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,498 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Grassi Investment Management raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 7,910 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 4,880 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.5% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 4,458 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 129.4% during the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 164.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.7%

PANW stock traded down $3.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $184.63. 2,144,887 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,690,818. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.22. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.11 billion, a PE ratio of 103.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.