GraniteShares Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 73.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,471 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,745 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,731,000 after buying an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of PANW opened at $188.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.08. The stock has a market cap of $124.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.92, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.