Westover Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Westover Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,392 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $28,000. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $37,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. This represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.14.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $202.90 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.42, a PEG ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $209.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.