Financial Perspectives Inc Acquires 366 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 732 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 6,541 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,003 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 4.1 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $208.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.34, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.29.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital reduced their price target 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.70.

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.