Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 108.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Umpqua Bank increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 13,409 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,287,000 after acquiring an additional 6,320 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 99.3% during the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 33,561 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $6,107,000 after purchasing an additional 16,725 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Plancorp LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 63.4% during the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 85,780 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $15,609,000 after purchasing an additional 33,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of PANW stock traded down $4.99 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,408,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,725,357. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.31 and a 200-day moving average of $185.38. The company has a market cap of $122.46 billion, a PE ratio of 104.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week 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 the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.