Nelson Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nelson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,424 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,867 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 44.0% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,850 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 77.6% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 302 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $188.01 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $124.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.08.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm 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 research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.