Sfmg LLC Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sfmg LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 99.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,561 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 16,725 shares during the quarter. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 97,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,714,000 after purchasing an additional 49,391 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 3,070 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 26,672 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,853,000 after purchasing an additional 13,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In related 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 directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $182.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.00. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.72, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.