Woodline Partners LP Buys 112,533 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 53.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 321,196 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,533 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $58,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.46.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 293,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $194.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $177.67 and a 200-day moving average of $185.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $128.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.