Emerald Advisers LLC Has $947,000 Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Emerald Advisers LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 95.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,206 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $7.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $177.37. 2,820,845 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,715,028. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $187.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.38. The company has a market cap of $117.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, KeyCorp increased 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.06.

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.