Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 14.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,443,596.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 376,372 shares of company stock valued at $121,925,593. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $364.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $4.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $362.72. 2,988,576 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,892,995. The company’s 50-day moving average is $333.84 and its 200-day moving average is $310.72. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.72, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company 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%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 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.