William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $339.18 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,922 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 0.9% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $339,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total value of $12,209,760.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,223,567 shares in the company, valued at $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. Daiwa America raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $346.90 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $336.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $312.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

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.