Stance Capital LLC Makes New $1.36 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,631 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,357,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% during the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $457,279,000 after purchasing an additional 163,718 shares during the period. Richmond Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4,524.0% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 547,944 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $112,131,000 after acquiring an additional 536,094 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $191.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $133.61 billion, a PE ratio of 121.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.51. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.