Greystone Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,662 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 143,151 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $24,427,000 after buying an additional 32,561 shares during the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the first quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc now owns 3,553 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,256 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $199.60 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.92. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.09 billion, a PE ratio of 112.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report 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 research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.