Zacks Investment Management Has $22.21 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,044 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,226 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during 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 buying an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted 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 valued at $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut 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 report on Tuesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $2.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $167.69. 4,768,742 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,872,875. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $180.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.60 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.