Teca Partners LP Purchases Shares of 9,045 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Teca Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,045 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,807,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 2.2% of Teca Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,443 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $2,239,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 283,151 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $39,510,000 after buying an additional 22,178 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 194.3% in the first quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,948 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,568,000 after buying an additional 54,760 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $135,000. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $248.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $237.08 and its 200-day moving average is $215.73. The stock has a market cap of $76.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 197.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.22 and a twelve month high of $258.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 51.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.17, for a total value of $9,682,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 177,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,130,921.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.17, for a total value of $9,682,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 177,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,130,921.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 544 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.46, for a total transaction of $127,002.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,965 shares in the company, valued at $925,668.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 168,130 shares of company stock valued at $40,267,273. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.19.

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.