Physicians Financial Services Inc. Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 69.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,043 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $94,875,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $387.95. 290,370 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,882,952. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $353.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.32. The company has a market cap of $126.32 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $234.15 and a twelve month high of $391.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.49.

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.