Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 198.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,822 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,191 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,732 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,377,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 144,598 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $49,424,000 after buying an additional 5,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 437 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. 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. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. 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 two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 818,544 shares of company stock valued at $147,132,028. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $2.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $150.67. 4,947,939 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,867,862. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.83 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $185.60 and a 200 day moving average of $185.36. The firm has a market cap of $99.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.74, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.