Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Sells 1,248 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 393,902 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,248 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.3% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.13% of Palo Alto Networks worth $78,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,443 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $2,239,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 283,151 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $39,510,000 after acquiring an additional 22,178 shares during the last quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 141,882 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 194.3% in the 1st quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,948 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,568,000 after buying an additional 54,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 250 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.10, for a total value of $63,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,219,840.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 250 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.10, for a total value of $63,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,219,840.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 2,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.01, for a total transaction of $499,820.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 37,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,151,613.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,130 shares of company stock valued at $40,267,273 over the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3 %

PANW stock traded up $3.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $248.74. 2,225,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,380,960. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.76 billion, a PE ratio of 197.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.22 and a 1-year high of $258.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 51.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.19.

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.