AE Wealth Management LLC Buys 36,647 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1,935.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,540 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,647 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying 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. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First County Bank CT boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 3,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $340.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $313.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a PEG ratio of 5.04 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.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS 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.