Counterweight Ventures LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Counterweight Ventures LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,384 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.9% of Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $335.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.74 billion, a PE ratio of 48.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.64 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $335.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $310.09.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share 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 net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 466,238 shares of company stock worth $154,690,169 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by 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.