Cetera Advisors LLC Has $12.42 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 129.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,706 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 24,682 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.59.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $377,373,165.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 428,591 shares of company stock worth $137,275,079 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $10.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $305.60. 3,524,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,378,765. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.22. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $201.17 and a one year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $98.95 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.14.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 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.