Creative Planning Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,020 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,077 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $33,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $188,946,000 after purchasing an additional 249,455 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $335.75 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.09 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $337.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $315.53. The company has a market cap of $109.32 billion, a PE ratio of 48.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 359,732 shares of company stock worth $118,815,557 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.26.

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.