Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Increased by New England Research & Management Inc.

New England Research & Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 63.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,870 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,202 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.0% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $261,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,173,651 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $200,268,000 after buying an additional 13,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.4% in the 1st quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 28,741 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after buying an additional 14,885 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $185.88 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.58. The company has a market capitalization of $129.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $248.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

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.