LPL Financial LLC Has $194.77 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 574,529 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 31,782 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $194,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Susquehanna raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $341.77 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.64. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.67 billion, a PE ratio of 49.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.