Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Menard Financial Group LLC

Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 18.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,688 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.1% of Menard Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased 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 valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 8,611 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connectus Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 43,813 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $346.90 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $336.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.64 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current 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.