Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Montag & Caldwell LLC

Montag & Caldwell LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 79.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,894 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,387 shares during the quarter. Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $22,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,754,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PANW opened at $169.98 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $181.95 and its 200-day moving average is $184.92. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.18 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.54 billion, a PE ratio of 95.76, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.52.

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.