Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by First American Bank

First American Bank raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 101.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,770 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,063 shares during the period. First American Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,454 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.3% in the fourth quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 2,570 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,540 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.4% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 20,960 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,814,000 after acquiring an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.9% during the fourth quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 13,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $187.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $186.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.63, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results 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 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, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.