Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Purchases Shares of 7,833 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,833 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,226,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,984,983.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 362,525 shares of company stock valued at $110,064,607. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $341.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $309.18 and a 200 day moving average of $307.63. The company has a market cap of $110.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.17 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.