ORG Partners LLC Acquires 138 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,162 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $199.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $132.85 billion, a PE ratio of 113.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.43 and its 200 day moving average is $185.31. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.