D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 34,711 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 110.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 66,078 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 34,711 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $208.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $186.84 and its 200 day moving average is $182.29. The stock has a market cap 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.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % 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 valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company 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.