Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 177.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $29,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Herbst Group LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 9,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $366.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $351.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.45. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $233.81 and a 12 month high of $384.00. The stock has a market cap of $119.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.54, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities 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.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.82.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.