V Square Quantitative Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,564 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $2.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $373.25. The company had a trading volume of 291,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,030,271. The stock has a market cap of $120.86 billion, a PE ratio of 54.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $347.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.01. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.