Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 106.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,182 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,997 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,121,531 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $204,074,000 after purchasing an additional 544,336 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.6% in the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,224 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 68,380 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,442,000 after buying an additional 32,886 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.5% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 392,270 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $71,377,000 after acquiring an additional 210,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,589 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $153.57 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.10. The firm has a market cap of $101.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.63 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,114,786 shares of company stock valued at $200,426,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

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.