Congress Asset Management Co. Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 568,046 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,501 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $96,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,343,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,502,253.76. This represents a 2.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $199.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $180.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.09. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $133.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.45, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.