Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $868,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $172.76 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.49. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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

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.