Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,767 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks
In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock worth $127,820,829 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.
Palo Alto Networks Price Performance
Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $206.06. The stock had a trading volume of 3,085,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,384,103. The firm has a market cap of $137.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.75, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $194.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.62. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles

Before you consider Palo Alto Networks, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Palo Alto Networks wasn't on the list.
While Palo Alto Networks currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of seven best retirement stocks and why they should be in your portfolio.
Get This Free Report