IFG Advisory LLC Purchases Shares of 5,980 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,980 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,027,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded up $4.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $362.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,988,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,373,807. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $333.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.64 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $117.45 billion, a PE ratio of 52.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total value of $22,436,448.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,228 shares in the company, valued at $233,635,491.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 376,372 shares of company stock valued at $121,925,593. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Argus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $364.08.

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.