Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Somerset Group LLC

Somerset Group LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,509 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.9% of Somerset Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Somerset Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $339,183,000 after acquiring an additional 73,922 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its stake in 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 valued at $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares during the period. Finally, Mirova US LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 843,447 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $285,937,000 after acquiring an additional 17,060 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $329.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $107.37 billion, a PE ratio of 47.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $224.64 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $336.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 company earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total transaction of $22,436,448.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,635,491.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.