Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Invests $4.59 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 25,200 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,585,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds LLC. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $184.01 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $186.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.00. The stock has a market cap of $121.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

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.