NewEdge Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 121.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,951 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 36,135 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.1% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 56,084 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,205,000 after buying an additional 28,327 shares in the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.1% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426 shares in the last quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $189.55 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $186.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.12. The firm has a market cap of $125.50 billion, a PE ratio of 106.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 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 $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.