Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by M&G Plc

M&G Plc boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 37.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,577 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $391.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $355.13 and a 200-day moving average of $332.47. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $234.15 and a 1-year high of $393.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.