Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,664 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew 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 buying an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew 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 buying an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,183,000 after purchasing an additional 73,922 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,866 shares of company stock worth $88,620,447 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $337.94 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $110.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.12, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $317.39.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.26.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.