Capital Analysts LLC Buys 865 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 190.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,319 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,215,410,000 after buying an additional 304,272 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $751,276,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after acquiring an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,376,601 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $673,731,000 after acquiring an additional 92,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $277.33 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm has a market cap of $89.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Loop Capital lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.46.

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.