Pegasus Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Pegasus Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 9,422 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $202.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $134.73 billion, a PE ratio of 115.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.16.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate 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 recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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, TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,343,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $646,502,253.76. The trade was a 2.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.