Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by HBK Sorce Advisory LLC

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 111.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $176.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $116.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.34, 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.