EP Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 3,835 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,835 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $261,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 96.5% during the first quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 36,866 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,291,000 after purchasing an additional 18,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.7% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 41,050 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,005,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $191.69 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $204.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.32, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

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.