Smith Moore & CO. Has $642,000 Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Smith Moore & CO. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 104.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,526 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

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Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $20.49 on Wednesday, hitting $173.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,504,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,908,482. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.18 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $182.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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%. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. JMP Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.