Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Has $31,000 Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1,111.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in 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 buying an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total value of $10,559,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total value of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,443,596.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 428,591 shares of company stock worth $137,275,079 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.2 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $10.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $305.60. The stock had a trading volume of 3,524,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,378,765. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.95 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.17 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $321.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $312.08.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.59.

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.