Diversify Advisory Services LLC Invests $14.50 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 51,879 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $14,496,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises 0.9% of Diversify Advisory Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $326.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,525 shares of company stock valued at $93,982,207. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $342.09. 2,069,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,753,500. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.17 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $110.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.75, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.09.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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