Prakash Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Prakash Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,124 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $328,470,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

PANW traded down $7.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $191.03. 5,451,305 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,377,549. The business's 50 day moving average is $187.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. OTR Global reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays decreased 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.70.

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.