Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 656 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $921,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 10.4% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,138 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 84.0% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 232.8% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11,603.9% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 23,993 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,817,000 after purchasing an additional 23,788 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $366.44 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $384.00. The company has a market cap of $118.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.26, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $351.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $326.78.

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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.82.

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.