Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Boosts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,589 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. MRA Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $259,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,219 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,464,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Certuity LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% in the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Counterweight Ventures LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the second quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 7,384 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,503,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 397.5% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,722 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 9,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $335.82 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $224.64 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $108.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $335.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. 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 quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.