Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,776 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $59,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 112,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $33,038,000 after purchasing an additional 26,767 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,726 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,291,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 231 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 2,762 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 7.2 %

PANW traded up $24.65 on Tuesday, reaching $368.01. The company had a trading volume of 12,843,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,441,305. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.16 billion, a PE ratio of 53.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $327.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $310.68.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.20.

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.