Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 86.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 227,913 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,766 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $41,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $186.75 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $178.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.21, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.