Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Holdings Increased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,936 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,512 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Daiwa America raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $340.12 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $336.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $313.57. The firm has a market cap of $110.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.