Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Takes $243,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 717 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $346.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $112.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $224.64 and a one year high of $380.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,984,983.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.