Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Acquires 1,269 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,539 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hartline Investment Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 35,677 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $228,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 70.0% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the period. Future Fund LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% in the third quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 50,650 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,322,000 after acquiring an additional 2,167 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $398.02 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $356.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $334.54. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $234.15 and a one year high of $400.69. The company has a market cap of $129.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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 dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.87.

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.