Mattson Financial Services LLC Invests $2.96 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,733 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,961,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.1% of Mattson Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 545 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $418,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,093 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $454,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 557,969 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $164,534,000 after purchasing an additional 172,662 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’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 owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 359,732 shares of company stock worth $118,815,557 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twelve 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.26.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $332.13 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.09 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $337.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.27, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during 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 revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.