Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Raised by Harbor Advisors LLC

Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,500 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,250 shares during the quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in 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 worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $388,155,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $334,697,000 after acquiring an additional 878,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.8 %

PANW stock traded up $5.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $189.95. 5,332,197 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,682,025. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $186.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.23. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks 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.