D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $515,147,000 after acquiring an additional 84,151 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. 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 note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $364.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $362.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $117.45 billion, a PE ratio of 52.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $333.84 and a 200-day moving average of $310.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 340,372 shares of company stock valued at $111,366,433 in the last quarter. 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.