First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,363 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Macquarie increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 362,525 shares of company stock valued at $110,064,607 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $341.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,022,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,980,896. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.59, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $201.17 and a one year high of $380.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $310.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.