1,450 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Acquired by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Capital Investment Counsel Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,082 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $444,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 1,078 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.20.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $24.65 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $368.01. 12,843,340 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,441,305. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $328.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.