Sather Financial Group Inc Has $306,000 Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sather Financial Group Inc lowered its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 904 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $924,905,000 after purchasing an additional 30,013 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $515,147,000 after purchasing an additional 84,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total transaction of $660,601.83. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,860,076.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at $14,175,564.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PANW stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $350.75. 3,415,364 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,430,739. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $311.49. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $113.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.49.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.