Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 1,698 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,779 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 3,149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.6% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 7,285 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,490,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% during the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,387 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,285,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $358.19 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $384.00. The company has a market cap of $115.98 billion, a PE ratio of 52.06, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $350.84 and a 200-day moving average of $325.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Northland Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.