Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group Acquires 411 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,331 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 411 shares during the quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position 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 grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 8,611 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Connectus Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 43,813 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,920,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $335.75 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.09 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.72 billion, a PE ratio of 48.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.