Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC Has $2.28 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,667 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.3% of Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $372.95. 154,353 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,042,116. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $346.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $321.63. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $233.81 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 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.