Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11,603.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,993 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,788 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 232.8% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 84.0% in the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,138 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $921,000. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 182.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,277 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,625,000 after buying an additional 10,507 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the 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 owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,857 shares of company stock valued at $75,418,399 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $340.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $201.17 and a one year high of $380.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $308.24 and its 200-day moving average is $307.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 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.