Westover Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 1,029 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,474 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 231 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 8,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $346.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $336.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $312.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84. 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.