Advantage Trust Co Buys 350 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Advantage Trust Co lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 700 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Advantage Trust Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 4,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $191.03 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.95. The firm has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

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