Amalgamated Bank Buys 69,231 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 102.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,937 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,231 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,867 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 44.0% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,850 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3 %

PANW opened at $190.39 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $126.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.26, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.92.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.