Portland Global Advisors LLC Acquires 25,014 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Portland Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,989 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 25,014 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.2% of Portland Global Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Portland Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Zega Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the third quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $172.76 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $187.39 and a 200 day moving average of $185.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.