Somerset Group LLC Purchases 8,307 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Somerset Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 93.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,216 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,307 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.9% of Somerset Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Somerset Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $4.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $189.09. 2,131,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,737,396. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last quarter. Company 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.