KCM Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 385 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 975 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $1,965,000. First Foundation Advisors grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 259 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,957 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599 shares in the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 23.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of PANW opened at $387.00 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $234.15 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The stock has a market cap of $126.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $359.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $336.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target 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. Barclays increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.76.

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.