Summit Financial LLC Has $2.90 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 96.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,914 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,811 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $4,831,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $18,987,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $171.31. The stock had a trading volume of 4,034,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,899,185. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $187.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.