Plancorp LLC Buys 1,031 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Plancorp LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 102.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the quarter. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $371,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its position 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. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position 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. Finally, Zega Financial LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9 %

PANW stock opened at $182.32 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $186.59 and its 200-day moving average is $185.05. The company has a market cap of $120.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. 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 posted 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 company 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 earnings per share 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.