Sapient Capital LLC Purchases 4,266 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,899 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,266 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 112.1% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 50,224 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $14,811,000 after buying an additional 26,546 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $814,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,697 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,860,000 after buying an additional 2,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $372,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $373.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,494,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,068,170. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.11, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $342.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $320.00. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $233.81 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,866 shares of company stock valued at $88,620,447. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.