Montecito Bank & Trust Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Montecito Bank & Trust bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,650,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $457,279,000 after purchasing an additional 163,718 shares in the last quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4,524.0% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 547,944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $112,131,000 after purchasing an additional 536,094 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $183.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $127.86 billion, a PE ratio of 116.10, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $202.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.45. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, New Street Research upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.79.

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.