Xponance Inc. Purchases 80,443 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Xponance Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 112.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 152,273 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 80,443 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tradewinds LLC. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 928 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $185.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $122.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $185.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.97. 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 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 given 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 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.