Bleakley Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised 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 acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st 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. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,183,000 after purchasing an additional 73,922 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $374.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $348.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $323.01.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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.