Bailard Inc. Has $6.14 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $44,497,000 after acquiring an additional 113,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,143,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded down $4.73 on Thursday, hitting $289.09. 1,766,673 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,450,312. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $93.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $290.67 and a 200 day moving average of $291.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Capital One Financial cut Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

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.