Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,577 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 30,013 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $515,147,000 after acquiring an additional 84,151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 367,315 shares of company stock valued at $118,696,590 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.66.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of PANW traded up $3.99 on Thursday, reaching $343.90. The stock had a trading volume of 856,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,349,375. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.35 billion, a PE ratio of 49.41, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $324.72 and a 200 day moving average of $310.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.17 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share 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.