F M Investments LLC Acquires 64,315 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

F M Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 59.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 173,282 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 64,315 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.2% of F M Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. F M Investments LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $169.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,512,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,887,673. The company has a market capitalization of $112.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50-day moving average is $182.29 and its 200-day moving average is $184.90. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.