Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Acquires 2,426 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,765 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,426 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.6% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total value of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,984,983.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Macquarie lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $384.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.63.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $9.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $334.11. The company had a trading volume of 4,533,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,787,649. The stock has a market cap of $108.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.56, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $326.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.65. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.17 and a 12 month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share 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.