AMI Asset Management Corp Buys 3,974 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

AMI Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 150,434 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,974 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 2.2% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $42,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Twelve 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

PANW stock traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $341.20. 1,022,648 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,980,896. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.17 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $307.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total value of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,984,983.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 362,525 shares of company stock valued at $110,064,607. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.