Certuity LLC Purchases 274 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Certuity LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,420 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 274 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $176.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.06, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $192.92 and a 200-day moving average of $186.63.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $185.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $496.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.52.

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.