1,022 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Acquired by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,022 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,071.4% in the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,153 shares of company stock valued at $44,107,332 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $282.26 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $320.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $286.10. The firm has a market cap of $91.20 billion, a PE ratio of 44.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.