Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC Boosts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 23.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,056 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 25,168 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 175,109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $49,754,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PANW. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $365.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $118.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $352.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $330.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $233.81 and a 1 year high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current 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.