Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 8,553 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 130.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,094 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,553 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 97,351 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $17,714,000 after purchasing an additional 49,391 shares during the last quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% during the fourth quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 3,070 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trinity Legacy Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 26,672 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $4,853,000 after buying an additional 13,819 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Three research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.6 %

PANW stock traded down $4.99 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,408,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,725,901. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.20, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.