Colonial Trust Advisors Acquires 52,865 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Colonial Trust Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,865 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.7% of Colonial Trust Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $868,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $173.02 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $182.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $135.18 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $114.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.