Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 7,291 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.06% of Palo Alto Networks worth $67,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during 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. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First County Bank CT raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth 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.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $6.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $342.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,037,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,121,362. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.14. The stock has a market cap of $110.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.76, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $233.81 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion during 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 last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was 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 approximately $55,791,570. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 395,732 shares of company stock worth $130,785,557. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.26.

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.