Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Holdings Lifted by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,983 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.3%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $204.30 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $189.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.33. The stock has a market cap of $136.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.