Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Wolff Wiese Magana LLC

Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 503.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,419 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,018 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the first quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Snider Financial Group grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,729 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,025,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities lowered 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. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.24. 8,285,645 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,444,625. The stock has a market cap of $132.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 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. The firm's 50 day moving average is $187.43 and its 200 day moving average is $185.08.

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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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.