Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,596 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 180.4% in the first quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 9,329 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 6,002 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the first quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 108,565 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $18,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,414 shares in the last quarter. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% in the first quarter. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,946 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $201.16. 2,883,962 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,386,036. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.13 billion, a PE ratio of 114.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens cut Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.42.

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.