Chiron Investment Management LLC Buys New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 31,546 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,740,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.9% of Chiron Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW stock traded down $2.07 on Friday, reaching $167.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,768,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,880,201. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.60 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.47, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $180.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.71.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.