Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Hardy Reed LLC

Hardy Reed LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,208 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,104 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Tradewinds LLC. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $7.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $191.03. 5,376,314 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,326,732. The company has a 50 day moving average of $187.20 and a 200-day moving average of $182.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.