Covenant Partners LLC Buys 3,247 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Covenant Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,494 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,247 shares during the quarter. Covenant Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $188.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.94 and a 200 day moving average of $184.68. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 448,188 shares of company stock valued at $74,074,795. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.06.

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.