WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases Shares of 90,253 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 90,253 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $16,422,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.1% of WINTON GROUP Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, 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. Three investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $172.76. The stock had a trading volume of 6,244,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,908,199. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39.

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, beating 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value 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 approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by 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.