Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,831 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $39,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,443 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $2,239,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 174.2% in the first quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 170 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 worth $39,510,000 after purchasing an additional 22,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Westpark Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Friday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.71.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $5.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $240.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,573,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,970,955. The company has a market cap of $74.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 190.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.22 and a one year high of $258.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $236.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.46.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 51.13% and a net margin of 6.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.10, for a total value of $63,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,302 shares in the company, valued at $7,219,840.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.10, for a total value of $63,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 2,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.01, for a total value of $499,820.40. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 37,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,151,613.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 168,140 shares of company stock valued at $40,276,328. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.