LifePlan Financial LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

LifePlan Financial LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.1% of LifePlan Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. LifePlan Financial LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $335.94 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $316.49. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $233.35 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $109.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Twelve 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 395,732 shares of company stock worth $130,785,557 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.