GeoWealth Management LLC Acquires 2,657 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 104.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,211 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $868,890,000 after buying an additional 2,220,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $167.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,768,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,858,295. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.60 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $180.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.86. The company has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 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 $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last 90 days. Company 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.