Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Acquires 6,348 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,119 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,348 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 2.9% of Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 597,619 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $202,610,000 after acquiring an additional 56,365 shares during the period. Ithaka Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the second quarter. Ithaka Group LLC now owns 35,020 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,872,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $1,883,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.8% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,100 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,051,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the period. Finally, Quilter Plc grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.0% in the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 350,549 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $118,840,000 after buying an additional 31,867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $346.90 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $336.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $312.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $112.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.