Sowell Financial Services LLC Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 352,158 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $60,092,000 after buying an additional 7,797 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% in the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 31,716 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% in the first quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 4,491 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 51.2% during the first quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 66,522 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,351,000 after purchasing an additional 22,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,046.4% during the first quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 13,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 12,211 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $198.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.10 billion, a PE ratio of 111.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,343,516 shares in the company, valued at $646,502,253.76. This represents a 2.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.