Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Smithfield Trust Co

Smithfield Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,524 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the quarter. Smithfield Trust Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gouws Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 202.7% in the 4th quarter. Gouws Capital LLC now owns 8,990 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,636,000 after acquiring an additional 6,020 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 247.8% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 480 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 9,976 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares during the period. Snider Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,664 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,214,000 after acquiring an additional 9,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $298,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. OTR Global reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.28. 4,533,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,088,462. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.74. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $122.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.