Quent Capital LLC Has $128,000 Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 379 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in 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 boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $515,147,000 after buying an additional 84,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 307,315 shares of company stock worth $100,940,790. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.6 %

PANW stock traded up $7.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $301.93. 3,216,819 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,434,475. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.17 and a 12 month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 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 analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current 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.