Wallington Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Wallington Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,943 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,147 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.9% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the first 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. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 833.3% in the first quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.82.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of 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 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $358.19 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $233.81 and a 12 month high of $384.00. The stock has a market cap of $115.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $350.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.