Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 199.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,586 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9 %

PANW stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $172.95. 2,861,358 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,898,570. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $187.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.31.

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. 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.