Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 439 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,539 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 439 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BluePointe Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% during the third quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC now owns 3,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,189 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 13,182 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,506,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snider Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 8,462 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,892,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $387.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $359.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $336.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $234.15 and a 12 month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $381.56.

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.