Stevens Capital Management LP Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 124.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,974 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,429 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $5.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $189.95. The company had a trading volume of 5,335,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,737,396. The company has a fifty day moving average of $186.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.