1832 Asset Management L.P. Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 413,246.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,735 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,722 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after acquiring an additional 8,611 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Connectus Wealth LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $344.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $224.64 and a one year high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $111.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

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.