MQS Management LLC Invests $228,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 666 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $94,875,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.56.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $387.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $358.84 and a 200 day moving average of $335.42. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $234.15 and a 52-week high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.