Alight Capital Management LP Invests $8.48 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Alight Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,475,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 2.1% of Alight Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after buying an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,183,000 after buying an additional 73,922 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $343.52 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $336.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $314.43. The company has a market cap of $111.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.93, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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 note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total transaction of $22,436,448.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,635,491.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.