Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Financial Management Network Inc.

Financial Management Network Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 92.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,004 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,398 shares during the quarter. Financial Management Network Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 95.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,340 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 3,579 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,882 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.5% in the 4th quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $709,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.34, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.29. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $208.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its 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 business 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%. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.