Kane Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kane Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,248 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,047,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.1% of Kane Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW traded down $2.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $167.69. The company had a trading volume of 4,768,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,880,201. The stock has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.71. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.60 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by 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.