Gabelli Funds LLC Purchases 230 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 975 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $177,933,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $188,946,000 after acquiring an additional 249,455 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 557,969 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $164,534,000 after acquiring an additional 172,662 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on 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 owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of PANW opened at $338.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $109.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.23, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $228.32 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $336.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

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.