Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 29.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 397 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. 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 report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $366.29 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $233.81 and a 1 year high of $384.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $353.29 and a 200 day moving average of $330.94. The company has a market cap of $119.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.52, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.