Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,754 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $94,875,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $386.83 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $360.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $337.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.56 and a 12-month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.39.

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.