813 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Bought by PDS Planning Inc

PDS Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 813 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Pacific Financial increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% during the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PANW. Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $293.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $292.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.84. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a PE ratio of 45.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.