Cornerstone Enterprises LLC Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cornerstone Enterprises LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.3% of Cornerstone Enterprises LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the first quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 167,399 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the first quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors now owns 1,824 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. CNB Bank lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 6,359 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Nadler Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% during the first quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $202.34 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $134.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.