Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 126.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,977 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 19,004 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $29,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents 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 the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,350,278 shares of company stock valued at $243,597,031. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of PANW stock traded down $8.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $165.17. 7,362,460 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,879,132. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $109.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.24.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.