Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Stokes Family Office LLC

Stokes Family Office LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 95.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,372 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 97,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,714,000 after buying an additional 49,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% during the 4th quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 3,070 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $187.54 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.00. The stock has a market cap of $124.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays cut 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given 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 $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 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.