Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 15.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,935 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 73,922 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Twelve 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 359,732 shares of company stock worth $118,815,557. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $329.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $316.24. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.09 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.62 billion, a PE ratio of 47.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current 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.