Clarus Wealth Advisors Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Clarus Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 256.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,908 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,092 shares during the quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Liberty Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,482 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 27,340 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,768,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 9,470 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares in the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,595,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $395,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $49,895,983.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,182 shares of company stock valued at $74,850,597 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.17.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $9.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $320.33. 7,203,352 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,960,115. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.17 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $103.72 billion, a PE ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $301.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.