Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Acquires 5,491 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 94.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,332 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,491 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tradewinds LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,989 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $182.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $185.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $120.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

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.