Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Makes New $256,000 Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 754 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 112,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $33,038,000 after purchasing an additional 26,767 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,726 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,291,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 231 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $347.58 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $336.02 and a 200-day moving average of $311.42. The company has a market capitalization of $112.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa America upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

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.