Cozad Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 115.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,595 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 6,219 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 928 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $185.00 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $185.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.97. The firm has a market cap of $122.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

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.