Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 94.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Palogic Value Management L.P. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 4,500 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $437,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 15,094 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 8,553 shares during the last quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 96.3% during the 4th quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC now owns 6,842 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,356 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 13,856 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,521,000 after buying an additional 7,256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.6 %

PANW traded down $4.99 on Wednesday, hitting $184.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,408,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,725,905. The company's fifty day moving average price is $187.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $122.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.20, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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 (EPS) 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of 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, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company's 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 owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.