Argent Trust Co Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 102.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,207 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 15,287 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,109,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $22,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,593 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empire Financial Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 4,394 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. JMP Securities lifted their price target on 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $169.54. 1,956,774 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,889,272. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $182.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.90. The company has a market cap of $112.25 billion, a PE ratio of 95.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.18 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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.

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.