Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 207,554 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,288 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $42,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. St. Clair Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% in the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 1,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $189.88 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $206.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.23. The company has a market capitalization of $132.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. New Street Research upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,095,056 shares of company stock valued at $226,082,942 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.