Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 99.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,188 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,077 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $764,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $388,155,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s 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 owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $173.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a PE ratio of 97.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.