Eagle Global Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Eagle Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,082,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $167.06 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The company has a market cap of $111.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 report on Monday, May 19th. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.