Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Dana Investment Advisors Inc.

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 98.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,622 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,615.6% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 31,189 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,675,000 after acquiring an additional 29,371 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 188,296 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $34,262,000 after acquiring an additional 95,458 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.7% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 170.5% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 6,311 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 3,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 215.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $180.93 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 101.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.