Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $810,047,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in 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. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in 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. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northland Securities cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $167.06 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $194.23 and a 200-day moving average of $186.91. The company has a market capitalization of $111.40 billion, a PE ratio of 95.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.