Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Buys 321 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,267 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after acquiring an additional 30,013 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,182 shares of company stock valued at $74,850,597 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $341.80. 1,138,764 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,796,630. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.67 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.17 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $307.06 and a 200-day moving average of $307.11.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 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.