Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 109.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,856 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,256 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tradewinds LLC. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $5.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $189.95. 5,336,425 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,737,396. The firm has a market cap of $125.77 billion, a PE ratio of 107.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $186.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.23. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company'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 transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, 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 sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

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.