Continuum Advisory LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,735 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CV Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% in the first quarter. CV Advisors LLC now owns 3,736 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.3% in the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the first quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 34,885 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,953,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% in the first quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 795,536 shares of company stock worth $141,007,618 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PANW. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $201.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.