MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH Purchases Shares of 11,713 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,713 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 17th. HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $191.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.61 billion, a PE ratio of 121.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $204.67 and a 200-day moving average of $197.51. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 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.