First Trust Advisors LP Buys 377,496 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 377,496 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 0.9% of First Trust Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.79% of Palo Alto Networks worth $1,083,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $37,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $193.63 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $206.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.21. The firm has a market cap of $134.96 billion, a PE ratio of 122.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction of $132,573.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% 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, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,095,056 shares of company stock valued at $226,082,942 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

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.