Equitable Trust Co. Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,329 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.1% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.7% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,278 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $445,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.5% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,319 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $391.40 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $355.13 and its 200 day moving average is $332.74. The stock has a market cap of $127.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $234.15 and a twelve month high of $393.21.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.