Optas LLC Has $342,000 Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Optas LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $362.64 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $118.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $233.81 and a 52 week high of $384.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $352.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $329.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share 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.