Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 98.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,021 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,866 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.4% of L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,710,943 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $504,523,000 after acquiring an additional 137,514 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $339,183,000 after purchasing an additional 73,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.2 %

PANW stock opened at $346.11 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $224.64 and a one year high of $380.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $336.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $312.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business 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 business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

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.