Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Americana Partners LLC

Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1,836.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,329 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,988 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.1 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $136.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.29. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.04 and a 1-year high of $208.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Insider Activity 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 on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is 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.