Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Xcel Wealth Management LLC

Xcel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.3% of Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks 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 directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of PANW traded down $2.66 on Tuesday, reaching $375.75. The stock had a trading volume of 564,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,010,070. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $349.61 and a 200 day moving average of $324.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.67 billion, a PE ratio of 54.48, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $233.81 and a twelve month high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.