Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,099,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Thirteen investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $338.73 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $228.32 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.61. The firm has a market cap of $109.68 billion, a PE ratio of 49.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.13.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for 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%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.