Level Four Advisory Services LLC Boosts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 101.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,228 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,200 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 13,454.5% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 21,145 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,227,000 after buying an additional 20,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,831,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % 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 worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $172.76 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $187.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts anticipate 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.