Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV Buys 467 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.42.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total value of $24,258,665.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,298,914.52. The trade was a 33.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $203.27 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.15, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.97.

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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.