Clearstead Trust LLC Purchases Shares of 6,081 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,081 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, First County Bank CT boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 3,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. 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. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.2 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $346.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $112.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $336.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 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.