Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 94.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Zega Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $182.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $120.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.72, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.00. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.