Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 123.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,920 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,445 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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 worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 72 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price 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. Susquehanna upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $1.68 on Friday, hitting $172.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,244,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,908,199. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 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 value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % 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 valued at $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.