Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Boosted by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 63.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,995 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,281 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $199.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.16, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $186.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens cut Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.