Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases 43,480 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 113.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,480 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tradewinds LLC. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $205.19 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.11 and its 200 day moving average is $182.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.60, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.04 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current 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.