Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 362 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 233.6% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,760 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,057,000 after buying an additional 7,535 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $56,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 8,611 shares during the period. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $327,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was 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 approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $10.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $365.15. 866,431 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,999,706. The business has a 50-day moving average of $350.47 and a 200 day moving average of $324.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $233.81 and a fifty-two week high of $384.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.89 billion, a PE ratio of 50.35, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.13.

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

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.