Waterloo Capital L.P. Has $1.57 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 108.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,629 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,486 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 818,544 shares of company stock valued at $147,132,028. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $153.57 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $185.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.68 billion, a PE ratio of 86.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.83 and a fifty-two week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.