Interchange Capital Partners LLC Purchases 639 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Interchange Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 21.5% during the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.5% during the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.7% in the second quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 13.5% in the second quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,993 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $364.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $4.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $362.72. 2,988,576 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,892,995. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $310.72. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.45 billion, a PE ratio of 52.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 376,372 shares of company stock valued at $121,925,593. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.