Welch & Forbes LLC Has $3.41 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,736 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,374 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $180.93 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $186.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.77. The company has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 101.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.