Future Fund LLC Acquires 5,426 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Future Fund LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 168.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,652 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,426 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 4.5% of Future Fund LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Future Fund LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 715 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 2,138 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,989 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $180.93 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

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.