Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 7,596 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 187,868 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,596 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $38,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. St. Clair Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 1,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,260,680. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.8%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $195.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $136.16 billion, a PE ratio of 123.64, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $205.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.