Colonial Trust Advisors Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Colonial Trust Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 107,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 52,865 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.7% of Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73 % 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 Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 939,318 shares of company stock worth $165,384,602 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 13.4 %

Shares of PANW opened at $173.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.56 billion, a PE ratio of 97.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $182.88 and its 200 day moving average is $184.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.18 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

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