Rathbones Group PLC Purchases 407,833 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 98.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 821,434 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 407,833 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.13% of Palo Alto Networks worth $149,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 939,318 shares of company stock worth $165,384,602 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Susquehanna raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim cut 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of PANW traded down $1.22 on Friday, hitting $167.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,964,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,895,248. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $182.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.81. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.18 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.