Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,955 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,172,000.

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

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $335.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.32 billion, a PE ratio of 48.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.09 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $337.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.