Boston Financial Mangement LLC Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 85.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,565 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 18,262 shares during the quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Jordan Park Group LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Jordan Park Group LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 120.5% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,402 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 13,335 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 10,208 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 5,104 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.3% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 368,414 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $67,037,000 after purchasing an additional 171,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $7.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $191.03. The company had a trading volume of 5,376,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,326,732. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.20 and a 200 day moving average of $182.95. The company has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.70.

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.