Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Bison Wealth LLC

Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 169.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 3,953 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 101.3% during the fourth quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,042 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after buying an additional 3,041 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 98,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,896,000 after buying an additional 48,113 shares during the period. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 107,510 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $19,563,000 after acquiring an additional 56,555 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Susquehanna upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BTIG Research cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.8 %

PANW opened at $186.65 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.00 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.70. The company has a market cap of $123.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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