Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 152.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,238 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,209 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Argent Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.6% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 16,289 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,522,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.6% in the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 10,662 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,515 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 36,021 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,211,000 after purchasing an additional 17,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 50,685 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,183,000 after buying an additional 2,650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given 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 $366.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $329.75 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $224.64 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.37 billion, a PE ratio of 47.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.