Element Capital Management LLC Buys 856 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Element Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,287 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 856 shares during the quarter. Element Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after purchasing an additional 30,013 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted 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 worth $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,710,943 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $504,523,000 after purchasing an additional 137,514 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $346.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $336.21 and its 200-day moving average is $312.16. 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 cap of $112.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Thirteen research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

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.