Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Position Boosted by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $94,875,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $362.64 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $233.81 and a 52-week high of $384.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $352.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $329.01.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 315,252 shares of company stock worth $107,138,877. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.49.

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.