Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $1.81 on Friday, hitting $339.01. 4,172,306 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,168,419. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $307.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.16. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.17 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm has a market cap of $109.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 258,182 shares of company stock worth $74,850,597. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.