Round Rock Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 46.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,872 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Stephens cut Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $206.06 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $194.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $137.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $127,820,829 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.