Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 114.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,137 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,252 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.2% of Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Swedbank AB boosted its stake 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 valued at $268,851,000 after buying an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during 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 buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 613.9% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.7% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 39,144 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,379,000 after buying an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 11,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,944,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $190.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.29, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $186.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.44.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.