Crestline Management LP Purchases 4,000 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Crestline Management LP lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,366 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Crestline Management LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities lifted 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $188.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.97 and a 200 day moving average of $184.71.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 448,188 shares of company stock worth $74,074,795. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.