Vestor Capital LLC Has $15.61 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Vestor Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 63.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,780 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 33,294 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.2% of Vestor Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $3,593,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 195.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 62,032 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,287,000 after purchasing an additional 41,035 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 85,578 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $15,571,000 after purchasing an additional 42,785 shares during the last quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $697,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $4,299,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $182.32 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $186.59 and its 200-day moving average is $185.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.72, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.