Montag & Caldwell LLC Has $5.48 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Montag & Caldwell LLC decreased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,166 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,549 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.1% of Montag & Caldwell LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after acquiring an additional 8,611 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connectus Wealth LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 43,813 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,920,000 after acquiring an additional 8,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $346.90 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $336.21 and its 200-day moving average is $312.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

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.