Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 2,484 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,844 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,484 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 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 given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $340.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $110.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average is $336.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $313.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently 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.