Sit Investment Associates Inc. Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 92.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 68,380 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,886 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.5% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 392,270 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $71,377,000 after purchasing an additional 210,200 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,589 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 200 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of PANW opened at $153.57 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.10. The company has a market cap of $101.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.63 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,114,786 shares of company stock valued at $200,426,637. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.