First Financial Bankshares Inc Acquires New Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,219 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,142,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth 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. Finally, Mirova US LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $106,638,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.6 %

PANW traded up $4.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $313.92. 1,871,268 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,994,476. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $201.17 and a one year high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.65 billion, a PE ratio of 45.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $294.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.09.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 257,382 shares of company stock worth $74,610,429. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Redburn Atlantic increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.78.

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.