Rockbridge Investment Management LCC Purchases Shares of 1,490 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Rockbridge Investment Management LCC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,490 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised 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 buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $388,155,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $172.76. 6,244,293 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,908,199. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $187.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.39. The company has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business 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 research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.