Fiduciary Group LLC Purchases 134 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,660 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.6% of Fiduciary Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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 have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $346.90 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $112.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $312.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 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 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. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.