Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,115 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $359.51 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $117.06 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $352.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $328.16. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $233.81 and a fifty-two week high of $384.00.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 315,252 shares of company stock valued at $107,138,877 in the last quarter. 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.