Lido Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 112.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,731 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 111,091 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $38,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 101.5% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,382 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 101.4% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 397,698 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $72,365,000 after purchasing an additional 200,199 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 87,972 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $16,007,000 after purchasing an additional 42,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $178.98 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.00 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $176.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.72. The company has a market cap of $118.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.83, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company 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 expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents 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 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.