K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Buys New Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,024 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $892,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 period. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $291.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,246,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $287.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Northland Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.