North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,842 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,400,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.1% of North Dallas Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of 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. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $191.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.51. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.32, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.