Clarius Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Clarius Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 8,611 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,866 shares of company stock valued at $88,620,447 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.14 on Friday, hitting $371.54. 97,207 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,070,066. The company has a market capitalization of $120.97 billion, a PE ratio of 50.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $340.85 and its 200 day moving average is $318.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 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.