Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,200 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,585,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tradewinds LLC. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.8 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $5.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $189.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,336,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,737,396. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $125.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. 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 target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.