Appleton Partners Inc. MA Has $8.36 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,628 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after buying an additional 8,611 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connectus Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 43,813 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after buying an additional 8,132 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $332.13 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.09 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $337.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $316.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.27, a PEG ratio of 4.87 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twelve 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.26.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 359,732 shares of company stock valued at $118,815,557. 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.