Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Bray Capital Advisors

Bray Capital Advisors raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,688 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,595 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.9% of Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $198.81 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $187.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.84. The stock has a market cap of $131.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.70.

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.