Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 29.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,951 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Insight Advisors LLC PA grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 4,502 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,526,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,586,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 198,940 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,443,000 after buying an additional 38,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 13,217 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after buying an additional 2,457 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 367,315 shares of company stock valued at $118,696,590 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. DA Davidson began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.51.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $332.01. 2,230,917 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,374,548. The stock has a market cap of $107.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.17 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $322.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 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.