First Bank & Trust Acquires 762 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

First Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,524 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $198.81 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.84. The firm has a market cap of $131.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.14.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share 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.