Greystone Financial Group LLC Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 98.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,154 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,534 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Geneva Partners LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

PANW opened at $191.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.20 and a 200 day moving average of $182.95. The stock has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.