Independence Bank of Kentucky Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,976 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 899 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 2,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 20,434 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 8,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivid Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $2,147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.49.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $350.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,506,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,430,739. The stock has a market cap of $113.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $330.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.28. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.