Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.1% of Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the first quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Snider Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the first quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,729 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,025,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $199.78 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a PE ratio of 114.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.29.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.