1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 109.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,746 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $334,697,000 after purchasing an additional 878,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $5.16 on Tuesday, reaching $189.95. 5,336,425 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,739,160. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.77 billion, a PE ratio of 107.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $187.31 and a 200 day moving average of $185.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

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.