Ceera Investments LLC Purchases New Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ceera Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 625 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 466,238 shares of company stock valued at $154,690,169 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Daiwa America upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $335.82. 2,367,589 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,328,734. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The firm has a market cap of $108.74 billion, a PE ratio of 48.81, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $335.82 and its 200 day moving average is $310.48.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.