Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Buys Shares of 40,752 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired 40,752 shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc., valued at approximately $6,954,000, during the first quarter.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $209.61 for Palo Alto Networks, with a majority rating it as a "Moderate Buy."
• Palo Alto Networks reported a quarterly revenue of $2.29 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations, along with earnings per share of $0.80.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 40,752 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,954,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,868 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.8%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $168.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $112.09 billion, a PE ratio of 96.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $194.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.03. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% 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 valued at $126,423,337 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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