Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 86.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,446 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew 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 valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Zega Financial LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,368,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 7.0 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $11.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $153.57. 8,982,361 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,876,430. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.63 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $101.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.52, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $185.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.27.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,114,786 shares of company stock valued at $200,426,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently 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.