Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,120 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in 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 during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $202.05 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.16. The company has a market cap of $134.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.