Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Has $8.92 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,084 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.2% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $5.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $379.39. 156,656 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,890,563. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $234.15 and a 52 week high of $386.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $353.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.32.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS 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.