Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Has $831,000 Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 132.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,793 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,733 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Zega Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,368,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 818,544 shares of company stock worth $147,132,028. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $151.32. 4,947,939 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,867,778. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 84.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $185.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.83 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.27.

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.