Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 132.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,594 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $184.79 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.23. The stock has a market cap of $122.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.11, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

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 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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.