Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,476 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $339,183,000 after buying an additional 73,922 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.28.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.0 %

PANW stock opened at $394.39 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $234.15 and a twelve month high of $408.53. The company has a market cap of $128.41 billion, a PE ratio of 54.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $357.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $335.01.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

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.