Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 778 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,246 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 778 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $177,933,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.8 %

PANW traded up $2.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $304.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,564,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,428,755. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.17 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $321.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $311.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.59.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 367,315 shares of company stock valued at $118,696,590 over the last ninety days. 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.