Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 42.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,678 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 59,399 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $36,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.9 %

PANW stock opened at $178.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.47 billion, a PE ratio of 100.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $185.78 and a 200 day moving average of $184.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.