Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,808 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. 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 $194.07 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $129.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.34, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $179.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.03.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on 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. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,343,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $646,502,253.76. This represents a 2.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 668,962 shares of company stock worth $116,269,690. 2.50% of the stock is owned by 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.