Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Connors Investor Services Inc.

Connors Investor Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,685 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.8% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 8,611 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Connectus Wealth LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 43,813 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,920,000 after buying an additional 8,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $346.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $112.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $336.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $312.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.64 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.