Financial Management Network Inc. Acquires 2,398 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Financial Management Network Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 92.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,004 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,398 shares during the period. Financial Management Network Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,731,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $191.03. The stock had a trading volume of 5,451,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,377,549. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50 day moving average is $187.20 and its 200 day moving average is $182.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year 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 the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.