Sky Investment Group LLC Has $1.76 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sky Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,320 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $197.67 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $131.81 billion, a PE ratio of 111.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.