Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 361,368 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,772 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.7% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $123,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares during the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $1,156,000. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $391.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.47. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $234.15 and a one year high of $393.21. The company has a market capitalization of $127.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS 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.