Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Americana Partners LLC

Americana Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 32.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,341 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $362.64 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $233.81 and a twelve month high of $384.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $352.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $329.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.02, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Barclays upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 315,252 shares of company stock valued at $107,138,877. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.