May Hill Capital LLC Acquires New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

May Hill Capital LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,210 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % 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 valued at $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.4 %

PANW opened at $171.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.46. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

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.