HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $3.86 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 114.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,367 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,870 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 1,032,105 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $188,112,000 after buying an additional 522,674 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 123.6% in the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,905 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 15,914 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 7,811 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 101.8% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,921,919 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $349,712,000 after purchasing an additional 969,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

PANW stock opened at $172.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $187.39 and its 200-day moving average is $185.49.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % 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 valued at $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.