Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 5,388 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 923,498 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,388 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Palo Alto Networks worth $157,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthBridge Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $196.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,297,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,411,936. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.85. The stock has a market cap of $130.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,452,332. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of 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. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

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.