Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV Purchases 1,860 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.5% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,520 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% during the first quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $364.58 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $233.81 and a 12-month high of $384.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $350.84 and its 200-day moving average is $325.17. The company has a market capitalization of $118.71 billion, a PE ratio of 50.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.