Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 1,229 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,319 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew 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 buying an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 428,391 shares of company stock valued at $136,147,317 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.20.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $6.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $332.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,420,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,597,864. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.17 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $317.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $310.31. The firm has a market cap of $107.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.14.

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

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.