Proficio Capital Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 215.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,416 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $297,450,000 after acquiring an additional 848,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,562,722 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $284,353,000 after purchasing an additional 796,964 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, 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 sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $5.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $189.95. The stock had a trading volume of 5,336,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,737,396. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $186.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.23. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.01, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research 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.