11,713 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Acquired by MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,713 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $261,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.7% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 41,050 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,005,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,173,651 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $200,268,000 after buying an additional 13,343 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Tigress Financial began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $191.69 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $204.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.61 billion, a PE ratio of 121.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 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.