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

Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,329 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. 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 Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $391.40 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $355.13 and a 200 day moving average of $332.74. The firm has a market capitalization 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 fifty-two week low of $234.15 and a fifty-two week high of $393.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.