Venture Visionary Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,669 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,003 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,052,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 6,541 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Retirement Guys Formula LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 4,289 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Effects LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $857,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.79.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $378.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,109,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,026,688. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $233.81 and a fifty-two week high of $384.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.53 billion, a PE ratio of 54.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $348.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $323.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.