Advisory Resource Group Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Advisory Resource Group raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,441 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 90.6% during the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 12,412 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,144,000 after buying an additional 5,899 shares during the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 10,665 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,781 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 90,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $15,460,000 after buying an additional 8,083 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 377.6% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 10,679 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after buying an additional 8,443 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.6% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 92,533 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $15,790,000 after buying an additional 9,655 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $199.78 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.26. The firm has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.16, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.