Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 87.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 430 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position 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 valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,047,625 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,082,895,000 after buying an additional 2,862,718 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $411,292,000 after buying an additional 2,397,539 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of PANW opened at $167.06 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39. The company has a market cap of $111.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its 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 net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total value of $20,722,402.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,468,674.44. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.